


Cait Serbus and the Ripple Effect

by originella



Series: Serbus Saga [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abuse of Authority, Adoption, Age Regression/De-Aging, Child Abuse, Courtship, Domestic Violence, Durmstrang, Durmstrang Institute, Earth Magic, Elemental Magic, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Forced Bonding, Forced Marriage, Forced Pregnancy, Forced Relationship, Harry Potter Universe, Harry Potter Universe - 1980s, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Imprisonment, Kidnapping, M/M, Magical Core, Major Original Character(s), Miscarriage, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, POV Original Female Character, Past Relationship(s), Physical Abuse, Pre-Sorcerer's Stone, Sequel, Sexual Abuse, Surrogate family, Teenage Pregnancy, Twins, Unknown Identity, Viktor Krum has a sister, Water Magic, Water Powers, biological powers, domestic abuse, hydrokinesis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2020-11-01 15:13:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 81,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20817245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/originella/pseuds/originella
Summary: Cait Serbus is abandoned at birth when it is believed that she possesses no magical core. When this happens, she is labeled as a Muggle, given a false name and identity, and put into the American foster system. When her magical abilities manifest, Igor Karkaroff finds her and comes to her aide, letting her know that she is not as alone in the world as she thought. However, dark forces will attempt to tear her away from the family she has built and come to love, and, when push comes to shove, Cait will have to risk everything she holds dear to survive.





	1. Snowbird

It was the first snow of the year, and Cait Serban was making her way towards the forests surrounding her school in Bulgaria. She had been one of their American exchange students for a period of over three years, and now, it was the Christmas holidays. She had just achieved her eleventh birthday one month previously, and as the snow fell around her that December of 1983, Cait found that she was, at last, at peace.

Walking through the bare trees around her as the snow continued its pursuit to completely cover the ground, she looked around, and made positively sure that she was alone. When she deduced that she was, she slowly extended her hand towards a particularly deep snowbank, and rolled her fingers this way and that, until she managed to get a snowball into the air. Lifting it flawlessly so that it was eye-level to her, she slowly melted and froze it, over and over again, and let out a slight giggle as she did so.

“That is very impressive, young lady.”

Cait let out a gasp then at the unfamiliar voice with the thick accent, stumbling slightly in the snow, the ball freezing up again and falling into the frozen water beneath her. “I... I’m sorry. I don’t think you were supposed to...”

“See that?” the man asked, and chuckled, exposing row upon row of brown teeth, which didn’t exactly endear him to Cait. “Oh, it’s quite all right, my dear. I’m a wizard, and, judging by that little display there, you are a witch.”

Cait’s dark brown brows knitted together on her milk-white skin then, and she stared at the man as if he’d gone crazy. “I thought that witches were burned to death in a place called Salem in the late-1600’s,” she said softly.

The man nodded. “Yes, unfortunately we lost a great many American witches that way. The Muggles try and say that witches aren’t real, and that is because they are frightened of what we have the capability of doing, you see.”

Cait swallowed then, unsure if she should run or listen to the man. “I’m sorry, sir. But who exactly are you?”

“Igor Karkaroff, Headmaster of Durmstrang Institute,” he said, taking the furred cap off from his shoulder-length salt and pepper hair, and swept a deep bow to Cait. “And what is your name, young lady?”

“Catherina Scylla Serban,” she replied, doing her best curtsy, and somehow managed not to slip about in the snow beneath them. “I go by ‘Cait’.”

“You are an American, then?”

Cait gave a slight nod. “So I’ve been told. I lived there for a time, bouncing around foster homes all over for a good five or so years before I decided to make something of myself. That’s why I’m here, in Bulgaria,” she explained. “Couldn’t make it stick.”

Karkaroff leaned closer, wanting to catch each word out of Cait’s lips. “And why do you think the homes didn’t stick, my girl?”

“Strange things would happen,” she confessed with a slight shrug.

“Such as?”

“Well, what you just saw, with the snow, certainly didn’t help matters,” Cait replied with a slight shrug then. “The families they put me with either lived places with snow, or they would travel to places with it, like the mountains. So, I would do it so that they or their children would like me, but they always called me a ‘freak’, and someone would take me away.”

“How old are you, Cait?”

“Eleven, I just celebrated my birthday last month. It’s not much of a celebration when you’re a scholarship kid who nobody really wants around,” she said in a self-deprecating tone of voice, which was not lost on Karkaroff.

“Do you know anything about your family?”

“I was born in Seattle, in one of their hospitals, and my mother abandoned me at birth,” she said in a soft voice. “I think her name was Margaret. Anyhow, a nurse named Tammy took me to the King County Social Services that night, and I was just left behind. They tried to place me for a good five years before I succeeded in getting out of there and into this program. Now, my best hope is to do well until graduation, and then maybe a university will want me...”

“Cait, I’m afraid I cannot in good conscience allow that to happen,” Karkaroff interrupted, his tone slightly brusque.

Cait blinked. “I don’t understand, sir.”

“Then, permit me to assist you,” Karkaroff said, and lifted his wand then, and Cait drew back in a moment of fear. “_Revelio_,” he intoned then, and a blue light sparked from the tip of his wand, and dove straight for Cait’s heart.

Cait let out a squeak of surprise as the bolt of light came for her, which seemed to temporarily hollow out her chest, permitting Karkaroff to see inside of her body. She let out a gasp then as there appeared to be a golden orb wrapped around her heart, and she felt herself trembling as the man lifted his wand, thus ending their connection. “What...?” Cait breathed, looking from where her insides had been exposed, to Karkaroff, and back again. “What was that?”

“That, my dear girl, was your magical core.”

Cait blinked a second time. “My magical core? What are you...?”

“I already explained that you were a witch,” he continued. “Your magical core glows a particular color, depending on your Blood Status. If it is bronze, you are a Muggleborn. If it is silver, you are a Half-Blood. And, if it is gold, like yours, you are a Pureblood.”

“What if your heart doesn’t have one?”

“If your heart doesn’t have one, then you are a Muggle,” Karkaroff said, returning his wand into the sleeves of his fur-lined cloak. “Now, then, it seems as if we are at an impasse.”

“How so?”

“You are currently enrolled here, with Muggle students, and I’ve not detected anyone else on this campus that has a magical core,” Karkaroff told her. “So, this means that I will come and collect you next summer, and you will begin your classes at Durmstrang Institute.”

Cait nibbled at her lip. “I’m a foster kid, sir,” she said, hunching her shoulders. “I cannot afford to attend another school. I only got in here because of the scholarship.”

Karkaroff nodded. “There is no tuition for any wizarding school, my dear,” he told her. “As for your books, supplies, and uniform, something will be figured out. I will collect you no later than the final day of term in June. Is that agreeable to you?”

“What of Headmaster Penkov?” she asked. “He won’t just let a student leave.”

“Don’t worry. We have a special lecture we give headmasters, headmistresses, and other professors at Muggle schools. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

Cait nodded. “Very well, then,” she said, and moved to step away. “I suppose I will see you a few months after the snow melts, then.”

“Indeed you will, Miss Serban,” Karkaroff said with another one of those sardonic grins as he moved away. “Indeed you will.”

. . .

Cait did her best to focus accordingly and for the next several months, time seemed to pass not as slowly as she had originally anticipated. The snow melted, and that in itself was a sadness for Cait, as she always delighted in sneaking off towards the forest and playing with the bits of frozen water which littered the ground. Winter had passed completely and when the sun came out again, she sensed giddiness from her fellow students, who were likely envisioning the summer holidays ahead of them, and reunions with their families.

Cait tried to put the whole family reunion thing out of her mind, and yet her mind was dragged in the direction of her past and what she remembered about her family. Like she had told Karkaroff, she knew she was born in a hospital somewhere in Seattle, a city on the larger side in the State of Washington, which was located on the West Coast of the United States. Her mother, she believed, had been called Margaret, and she assumed that she carried her mother’s surname, but, as she was still a mere eleven-year-old, she was considered unworthy of knowing such information, due to the fact that she was not yet of age in the Muggle world.

She liked to think that her mother, who had to be named Margaret, as that was the name of a princess in England, was very beautiful, and either very selfish or just merely a victim of unfortunate circumstances. Perhaps her mother hadn’t been able to provide for her, and believed that sending her into the foster care system was the best option for everyone involved directly with the situation. If there wasn’t money to be had in the family, or only enough for Margaret to take care of herself, then maybe, just maybe, Margaret had been a good person, and had wanted the best life possible for her daughter.

When June arrived, Cait stood for her exams at the end of the year, and it was on the third Monday of the month that Karkaroff arrived on the school grounds for her. Cait had, as per his instructions via the letter she had gotten from him the previous week, packed her belongings and made sure that her lodgings were in adequate condition. Cait then went directly to Headmaster Penkov’s office when she had been called, and was relieved to see that Karkaroff was already there waiting for her. There was a tea service set out, along with Headmaster Penkov’s personal Turkish coffee, of which he’d offered Karkaroff, and the latter had accepted it.

“Ah, come in, Catherina,” said Headmaster Penkov, and Cait did her best to smile at his formality, although she truly detested her long name.

“Thank you, sir,” she said softly, and crossed the room, perching in the offered chair and setting her suitcase down beside her.

“It seems as though your Headmaster Penkov has a younger brother who is a wizard,” Karkaroff put in, sitting back in his chair and sipping his steaming cup of coffee.

“Half-Blood,” Headmaster Penkov informed Cait with a small smile. “Dad and I are the Muggles, but Máyka was a Pureblood witch,” he explained. “Anton got into Durmstrang Institute when he was eleven, taking after the Monova half of the family. Of course, I took after the Penkov side, and just got a headmaster position at the end of the day.”

“Your brother is exceptionally powerful, Stoyan,” Karkaroff said, a hint of impatience in his voice as he settled in his chair.

Headmaster Penkov sighed, dragging a hand through his brown hair. “Very well, then,” he said, knowing that he couldn’t do anything to help the proceedings. He opened a file folder in front of him and looked over the parchment, and then he lifted a pen and signed at the bottom, probably where his name was needed. “Is that it, then?”

“Yes,” Karkaroff said with a stiff nod. He finished his coffee and got to his feet, taking the parchment and folder into his hands and held it firmly. “All right. Cait, are you quite ready to leave?” he asked.

Cait nodded, getting to her feet as well and picking up her case. “All ready, sir.” She moved to follow Karkaroff then, before she turned back around and regarded Headmaster Penkov. “Thank you very much, headmaster, for everything.”

Headmaster Penkov looked surprised at this but gave Cait a nod. “You’re welcome.”

Cait offered him a smile then before she turned back around and scurried after Karkaroff, who had waited for her out in the hallway. They made their way to the main entrance of the school and stepped out into the sunshine, and Cait was perplexed when they moved towards the forest, and not towards the car park, but she moved to follow anyhow. “Sir? Did you not come here in a car?” she asked.

Karkaroff looked at her as if she’d lost it. “No, dear girl. Wizards don’t drive cars.”

“Are we hailing a cab to catch a train, then?”

Karkaroff smirked as they talked into the line of trees. “No,” he replied, taking out his wand again and pointing it at her suitcase. “_Reducio_,” he said, his wand’s tip glowing purple, as her case shrunk so as it fitted into the palm of her hand. “Put it in your pocket.”

Cait raised her eyebrows then, but nevertheless pocketed the object and looked up at Karkaroff again. “So, how is transportation done, then?”

“Apparition, my dear girl,” Karkaroff replied. “Are you familiar with the term?”

“Not in the magical form, sir, no.”

He nodded. “Take my arm,” he explained. “You will feel a pull backwards via your navel, and we will vanish from this place and go to the school. All right?”

Cait swallowed. “Yes, I think so, sir.” She stepped forward and placed a hand onto his arm and gripped it, anxiety flowing through her. Peeking upwards, Karkaroff didn’t seem to mind it and, just a moment later, with a _pop_, they were gone.

Karkaroff kept a good grip upon Cait as they slammed back down to earth. He then began walking slowly, permitting Cait to get her bearings and look around, if she wished.

Cait looked up upon arrival; they were high up, she guessed, due to the significant change in elevation, plus the whistling mountain winds that flew through her ears and bit at her cheeks. She didn’t dawdle, and hurried to catch up with Karkaroff, and, as they rounded a bend, a great, stone castle came into view. No, castle wasn’t the right term; fortress, such as a place where royals and soldiers alike in medieval wartimes would station themselves for safety. She saw that it was several floors tall, and shook her head at the notion of all the staircases she would likely have to familiarize herself with in the coming years.

Karkaroff came upon a black, wrought iron gate, and lifted his hand to it, whereupon something passed between the two, and the gates creaked open. Karkaroff stepped in directly, and Cait moved to follow him, as they went up the hill towards the fortress, and the gate closed instantly behind the pair of them. Karkaroff said nothing as the entrance doors swung open for the two of them, and swept inside the place, obviously knowing where he was going, and made his way towards a great staircase in the center of the corridor.

“We are going to my office,” he intoned over his shoulder. “There, you will be introduced to two old friends of mine. Please, be polite, Cait.”

Cait nodded. “Of course, sir.”

Karkaroff gave a curt bow of his head towards her, and they went up two and a half more flights of stairs before they reached his intended destination. He made his way down the corridor as if he owned the place, and Cait said nothing about that as he pushed open an ornately-carved door made of granit-oak, and it squeaked slightly in protest at the movement. “Ah, Vlad, Lina,” came Karkaroff’s voice, now suddenly warm, as he embraced the man and the woman in turn.

“Igor,” said Vlad, while the woman, Lina, looked down at Cait.

“Well, hello, there,” she said gently, and Cait was shocked that she was not speaking in a condescending manner towards her. “I trust your journey was all right, Cait?”

Cait blinked. “You called me ‘Cait’.”

Lina let out a laugh then. “Yes, I suppose I did, didn’t I? Well, I’m sorry. Do you prefer Catherina, then?”

Cait shook her head. “No, no, thank you, madam. Not many people call me that, you see. I prefer ‘Cait’, of course, but many people seem to assume that Catherina is the favored name.”

Lina smiled then, and Cait took a moment to look her over; she had dark, auburn hair, and equally dark green eyes. Her skin was pale but very beautiful, and she wore a summer dress and simple pearl necklace, along with shoes which went well with her entire ensemble. “Well, I’m Lina,” she said, and put out her hand, and seemed relieved when Cait took it. “Pleased to meet you, Cait.”

“And I’m Vlad,” said the man beside her, who sported dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, similar to Cait, as he put out his hand, equally pale. “Lina and I have been married for thirteen years,” he explained as Cait shook his hand.

“Pleasure to meet you, sir,” she replied, smiling up at him.

“Vlad and Lina have two children themselves,” Karkaroff explained to Cait, once the initial introductions had finished. “Their daughter, Anna, is about your age, and she’ll be starting here at Durmstrang in the autumn. They also have a son, Viktor, who is eight-years-old, and won’t be starting for another three years.”

“We make our home at Krum Krepost,” Vlad explained proudly, and Cait saw that there was a fine line between pride and pompousness, but Vlad never crossed it. “It’s in Boyana. Have you heard of it?”

Cait nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ve heard of it.”

“Vlad and Lina are Baron and Baroness Krum,” Karkaroff went on with a smile, “and have been so since 1974.”

“We always wanted more children after Anna and Viktor but, unfortunately, it never happened for us,” Lina explained. “When Igor brought up your situation, about how it would be suitable for you to stay with a family with a child who attends the school, Vlad and I thought that we would be a perfect solution.”

Cait felt her brows knitting together then, and she brought her pint-sized trunk out of her pocket then, tapping it with her finger, and it immediately grew to its standard size. “Well, I suppose I would be open to it, madam,” she said, and smiled at Lina.

“We’ll also make you an appointment with Mykew in Tȗrgovski Tscentȗr at once,” Lina said with a smile, and put her arm around Cait. “Igor, would you mind awfully if Cait and I used your Floo?” she asked, and turned around to look at him.

“Not at all,” Karkaroff said with a nod.

“I’ll catch up with Igor a bit more, darling,” Vlad said with a smile, and waved to Cait.

Cait nodded at Vlad and followed Lina towards the massive hearth in his office. “Are you feeling cold?” she asked.

Lina let out a giggle. “On this beautiful day?” she asked, and turned to look at Cait, but her green eyes widened when she figured out that Cait wasn’t trying to be funny. “Oh. I suppose you don’t know much about our world, then?”

Cait shook her head. “I didn’t know I was a witch until last December. While my former school had an excellent library, magical tomes wasn’t its forte.”

“Oh, dear me,” Lina said, and smiled at Cait. “Don’t worry—we’ll fix everything at once.” She took a pot from beside the hearth, which appeared to be filled with something that seemed to be the consistency of sand and garden soil. “Take a handful of this.”

Cait blinked. “Is this some kind of new-age ritual?”

Lina’s auburn brows went together. “New-age?”

“Hippie... Um, khipi?” she asked, wondering if saying it in Bulgarian would help Lina know what she was talking about.

Lina covered her mouth with her free hand in an effort to smother her laughter. “No, of course it isn’t,” she said. “Come on. Take the powder into your hand.”

Cait swallowed, but nevertheless took some into her hand and held it. “Now what do I do?” she asked Lina.

Lina winked at Cait and got her wand out of her pocket—eleven inches, poplar, unicorn tail hair, supple—and pointed it at the died embers of the fire. “_Engorgio_,” she said, and they suddenly fired to life, causing Cait to step back. “_Reducio_,” she said next, and then the fireplace was as barren as before. “Go in.”

Cait did her best to move into the place itself and stand there, case in one hand, and powder in the other. “And now?”

“Say Krum Krepost—_very_ clearly now, dear—and drop the powder.”

Cait sighed; this couldn’t possibly work, could it? “Krum Krepost!” she shouted then, and let go of the powder, and was suddenly swallowed up by a mass of green flames. Cait was hurled somewhere along a dimly-lit passageway, and her shrieks were immediately swallowed up by the chamber itself. She was pulled this way and that by the tunnel she had found herself in upon being swallowed up, and then, almost as if it had just begun, she was promptly spat out and deposited on a highly-polished, wooden floor, which was partially covered by an expensive-looking, intricately-patterned rug.

“Move!” came a voice then, and a pair of hands grabbed ahold of her and yanked her to her feet, out of the line of sight of the fireplace. “You all right?” came the voice again, and Cait forced herself to focus, laying eyes on the person who had grabbed her.

Cait nodded. “Y-yes. I-I think so.”

“Good to hear it,” said the girl with a smile; she had chestnut-brown hair, engaging brown eyes, and a winning smile. “I’m Annie. You must be Cait?”

Cait nodded and took her hand, only to immediately draw it back. “Sorry. I seem to be covered in soot,” she said with a laugh.

“No matter,” Annie said with a giggle, and brushed off Cait as best she could, when a clatter from behind them saw Lina coming into the living room. “Máyka,” she said, greeting her mother warmly with a hug.

“Hello, darling,” Lina said, holding Annie for a moment and looking around. “Oh, dear, Cait,” she said with a smile, and waved her hand about, whispering, “_Tergeo_,” and Cait was instantly free of the soot upon her. “Better. Now, where has that brother of yours gotten? You were both supposed to be here to greet Cait...”

“What else?” Annie said with a shrug. “Opened the shed again and found the Cleansweep Six that you’re so desperate to hide from him.”

“It’s not desperation, Anna,” Lina told her daughter, her voice serious, as she used her full name for the first time as she made her way towards the back of the house, Annie and Cait moving to follow her. “He could fall and hurt himself.”

“He’s got agility on his side,” Annie told her, not sounding particularly caring. “Just because you need him to get the barony... I could do it, you know. I could be the baroness.”

“Darling, you know full well that the laws aren’t on your side,” Lina said gently, and caressed Annie’s face briefly for a moment. She threw open the back double doors then and stormed into the yard, glaring up at her son. “Viktor Dragomir Krum, you get down here this instant!” she hollered up at him.

Cait looked up then, and was greeted to the sight of Viktor himself, flying around the expansive yard like a pro, and seemingly annoyed that his mother seemed to want to spoil his fun. She took in his brown hair and eyes, and he was the spitting image of his father, Vlad. Nevertheless, she watched as he zoomed back towards the ground, touching down expertly, and stared at his mother with a blazing look.

“Now then,” Lina said, holding out her hand, wandlessly summoning the broom out of her son’s own hands, and banishing it to a small building a few yards away, with Cait guessed was the shed it had been found in. She shoved it inside, and moved the door to shut and lock on its own before regarding her son. “No more horseplay, young man. As you can clearly see, it is not to be just the four of us in the house any longer.”

Viktor turned then and looked Cait up and down; she could tell by his body frame that he would overtake her in height soon. “Pleasure to meet you,” he said, and put out his hand. “You must be Cait?” he asked, his accent thick.

Cait shook Viktor’s hand with a nod. “Yes, I’m Cait. Nice to meet you, too, Viktor.”

“Máyka said that you could do things,” Annie said quickly, jumping in.

Lina sighed. “And I also said that we wouldn’t parade Cait around like a circus bear, because she is a member of this family,” she said firmly.

Cait smiled. “I wouldn’t mind, if it’s all right, Lina,” she said softly. “I haven’t been able to do anything for a while now...”

Lina smiled indulgently. “Oh, very well, then. I suppose it’s all right. We have a few acres of land, and it’s private property, so it’s not like anyone’s allowed here anyway.” She leaned down and retrieved Cait’s trunk from her hand. “I’ll take this upstairs. Annie, love, why don’t you show Cait to the pond?”

“Right,” Annie said, taking Cait’s hand. “It’s this way,” she told her, and pulled her along the stone path. “You coming, Viktor?” she called over her shoulder.

Viktor grumbled to himself, but nevertheless followed his sister and Cait down the path.

It was a curved and jagged beast of a thing, which wound round and round the grounds of the property, before it stopped just a few feet away from the pond. The pond, as Lina had called it, was circular in shape, and was surrounded by grass and thickets of trees. The water was a clear blue that day, and the sun shimmered brightly on its surface, giving anyone who cared to look that there were diamonds resting upon it.

“What is it you can do, then?” Viktor asked.

Cait smiled at him, and raised her right hand slowly. She spread out her fingers towards the surface of the water, before manipulating them into a wave pattern, whereupon the water rippled almost instantly. Cait was careful, and although Annie and Viktor drew back in a moment combined with fear and utter fascination, a part of her wanted to push herself, just to see what she was truly capable of. Then, the gentleness of her hand movements bored her, and she suddenly stuck out all five fingers in a steady, forward motion, jerking her arm forward just behind it.

The pond, in response, suddenly slammed together completely in an upwards cylinder shape, and managed to stay quite tidy, without any droplets falling out of place. The entire piece surged upwards then, the blasting force of Cait’s abilities continuing to propel it towards the sky. She heard Annie and Viktor gasp as one on either side of her, almost as if neither one of the siblings could believe what they were seeing. Cait felt her eyes widening; in all her years, she had focused merely on snow, as it was the only kind of water she could possibly get her hands on without anyone around to see it.

There were footsteps behind the trio then, and, due to the fact that they were all otherwise engaged, it was only natural that none of them turned around. Cait then proceeded to loop all five fingers into a wave once more, this time in a downwards motion, and the water she’d held up successfully for a period of several minutes slowly but surely began its decent. Once it hit the surface of the pond and threatened to come up on shore, Cait immediately threw out both hands, palms out, and made sure it stayed within the invisible lines previously drawn out, likely when the pond was formed.

“Cait.”

Cait turned around immediately then, and saw Vlad and Lina standing together. “Sir, I—”

“That was _wonderful_!” Vlad cried out then, and Cait could see just how genuine he was being towards her. “Quite a beautiful display, my dear.”

Cait let out a nervous laugh. “Oh. Well, thank you, sir,” she said.

“Vlad,” he told her with a quick smile.

“And call me ‘Lina’,” came Lina’s voice then. “None of this ‘madam’ nonsense. It makes me feel like quite the old woman.”

“Mayhap we all don’t have to grow old just yet,” Cait said softly, and felt the smiles of her new family surrounding her then.

. . .

“Not too fast now, girls,” Lina said gently as Annie pulled Cait along, showing her all there was to see in the fantastic window displays along the main street of Tȗrgovski Tscentȗr.

“It’s all right, Lina,” Vlad said to his wife, taking her by the hand and kissing her temple. “Let them have their fun. Besides, I don’t think they’ll be wandering too far anytime soon. As you can see, we’ve arrived at Mykew’s.”

The building was done up in wood, painted purple, with gold lettering in Old English Script proclaiming the establishment to be _Wands by Gregorovitch_. Vlad stepped forward and opened the massive door, nodding for both Cait and Annie to step inside, then Lina, and finally Vlad went into the shop himself. There was a little golden bell atop the door, which rang charmingly as the door opened, and then shut, and a man with slightly graying hair came out from the back of the shop, and smiled.

“Ah, Baron and Baroness Krum,” he said warmly, stepping out from behind the counter and taking them warmly by the hands. He bowed to each of them respectively before he looked at the two new witches standing before him, and bowed first to the one with chestnut brown hair. “Ah, and this must be your Anna.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gregorovitch,” Annie said, and curtsied.

“The pleasure is mine, Miss Anna,” said the wandmaker, before his eyes wandered automatically to Cait, and he smiled genuinely down at her, taking her hands in his. “Ah, Miss Catherina Serban,” he said, his voice just as warm as it had been when greeting the members of the Krum family just a moment ago.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gregorovitch,” Cait said, and curtsied, just like Annie had.

“Delighted,” the man said, squeezing Cait’s hands before pulling away from her. “I take it that they are here for their first wands, Vlad?”

“Yes, Mykew,” Vlad said, as if speaking to an old friend.

Gregorovitch nodded, and turned to the girls. “My associate in England, Garrick Ollivander, goes through boxes one at a time, until the wand chooses the wizard, or witch, in this case,” he told them with a smile. “However, I do things a bit differently. Are either of you aware of the Summoning Charm?”

“Yes,” Annie said.

“No,” Cait replied at the same time.

“It’s quite simple, Miss Cait,” Gregorovitch told them. “It’s _accio_.”

“_Accio_,” Cait repeated.

“Very good,” the wandmaker said with a smile. “Now, ladies, raise your hands upwards, and concentrate as deeply as you can. Envision your wand, see it in your mind’s eye. Attempt to sense it as you do so, and then say the charm. Miss Anna?”

Annie gave a fleeting look to Vlad and Lina, who both smiled at her encouragingly, and so she turned back towards the shelves, and lifted up her hand. She focused, just as Gregorovitch had told her to do, and said, “_Accio_.”

There was a shuffling in the back of the store then, and a long, rectangular box came zooming out of the back and into Annie’s waiting hands.

“Let us see what we have, shall we?” the wandmaker asked, stepping forward and prying the lid off from the box. “Oh, yes, I see,” he went on, lifting the wooden stick upwards and running his hands along it. “Thirteen inches, willow, dragon heartstring,” he said softly, and moved to bend the thing, “unyielding.”

Annie took the wand once it was offered back to her, and swished it around. She spotted some coins atop the front counter, and pointed the wand at them. “_Accio_,” she stated, and the coins immediately came flying towards her.

“Very good, Miss Anna,” said Gregorovitch. “Are you quite ready, Miss Cait?”

“Yes, I suppose so, sir.”

“Go on then.”

Cait swallowed, but lifted her hand slowly, unaware that anything remarkable would happen, and stood her ground. She shut her eyes, considering all the wands in the world, finding their magical companion, and then, little by little, the magical population proceeded to shrink from within her mind, going first from well-known individuals, and then to the ones she knew personally. And then, at long last, she thought of herself, and her own wand, and the fantastical things she could one day accomplish with it. Her eyes snapped open then, and she whispered, “_Accio_,” radiating confidence as there was a mighty rumble from several shelves back, and a rectangular box came towards her at top-speed, lying down flat in her arms.

“Let’s see,” said Gregorovitch, opening the box and looking amazed. “Twelve-and-three-quarter-inches, blackthorn, unicorn tail hair...” He trailed off, and moved to bend the stick as he had done with Annie’s. “Unyielding,” he declared.

Vlad requested to pay for the items, and the old wandmaker nodded, taking the boxes from the girls but permitting them to hold onto their wands as he made his way towards the counter. He grabbed ahold of a quill, as well as a well of ink, and dipped the writing implement inside, doing his best to tally up the purchases quickly. Once he’d done so, twenty Galleons exchanged hands, and Lina was ushering the girls out the door.

Walking back down the cobblestone street, Lina ushered the girls into a robes shop next, where the helpful witch—who was garbed in a black dress which matched her hair, a purple apron, and bobby pins in her conservative bun—measured both Cait and Annie for their school robes and uniforms. Lina requested that they be summoned to the Krum estate by the night before school was due to begin, and the woman nodded her head in approval. Once they had left the shop, they found Vlad waiting for them, and they immediately proceeded to walk down the road to the bookshop to collect their textbooks and other supplies.

Cait found she had never had such a fun time shopping, and she was quickly told that since she had gone to Muggle schools all her life, naturally her magical core had rejected such things. She merely smiled and absorbed the words, and, once the shopping was finished, Vlad decided that it was time for lunch. Vlad and Lina were still holding hands, and Vlad mentioned an institution called The Rose Valley Saloon, which seemed to be a popular place to eat. They were shown in to the wood-carved restaurant, and made their way towards a table in the back, which was a rounded booth.

“Here,” Annie said, handing a menu over to Cait.

Cait opened the menu and looked it over comfortably.

“I never asked how you know the language so well,” Annie whispered.

Cait laughed. “Four years in a Bulgarian school does that to you. I wasn’t there to make friends, but to learn, and you have to be somewhat aware of the language to learn.”

Annie smiled. “Yes, I suppose you’re correct.”

Cait grinned back before turning back to the menu, looking it up and down.

“Get whatever you want, darling,” Lina whispered to her.

“Of course—sky’s the limit, girls,” Vlad informed them.

Cait and Annie looked at each other for a moment, sharing a smirk before turning back to the text in front of them. Cait ultimately decided on the banitsa, a dish made out of filo dough pastry and filled with eggs, yogurt, and feta. She had a passion for feta, which likely came when she had stayed with a Greek family for three months when she was four-years-old; it was where she learned to cook, learned about her passion for food, and learned how to speak the language. It was the fourth language she mastered, after English, Latin, and French, which she had studied tirelessly from the time she was a child.

Their orders were placed soon thereafter, and each of them had a glass of boza in front of them to sip while they waited. Cait took the opportunity to look around the place then, and recognized the wood that had been on Karkaroff’s office door. Vlad had told her that it was granit oak, and was considered the national tree of the area, due to the excess in which it grew.

Cait looked back up a moment later then, listening to the conversations that involved seventy-five-percent of the Krum family, and found herself tickled to be included. She told them all what she remembered about America, but all it really amounted to was her learning four languages and burying her head in her homework, plus other books that caught her fancy. It was in that moment that Cait realized she had hardly lived a fulfilling life, and that she had always played it safe, or, rather, by the book. Now, now that she knew that she was a witch, and was around others who wouldn’t shun her for her powers, she knew that, at long last, she had found love and acceptance, and she was not about to just let that go.


	2. Telling Tales

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has officially been in development hell for almost a year. I was mentally kicking myself for literally planning out the story and just leaving it there to fester. Well, I've spent months off and on writing this second chapter, and I'm finally at a good place to post it. Sorry I've been MIA on here for a while, and I'm tentatively back. Hopefully those of you who are still reading this saga are pleased with this second chapter. Love you all!

“Doblest, Pronitsatelen, Vȗtreshno, and Istinski,” Annie said softly as they put on their uniforms prior to being transported to Durmstrang.

“All right?” Cait said, spreading her hands in confusion.

Annie smiled, straightening up. “Doblest, meaning valor. Its colors are red and black, and its animal is a Peryton,” she explained. “Pronitsatelen, meaning insightful. Its colors are royal blue and silver, and its animal is a Graphorn. Vȗtreshno, meaning inward. Its colors are purple and gray, and its animal is a Mackled Malaclaw. Istinski, meaning truth. Its colors are green and white, and its animal is a Nogtail.”

Cait blinked, amazed that Annie seemed to have all this information memorized. “Do all the wizarding schools have this system?”

“Yes,” Annie said with a nod. “Beauxbatons in France has three houses, while Hogwarts in Scotland and Ilvermorny in the United States have four.”

Cait felt her brows knitting together then. “Will we have to buy other uniforms, to match our house colors?” she asked.

Annie shook her head with a small smile. “No, of course not. Once we’re placed somewhere, our robes and uniforms magically take on the colors and emblems of our houses.”

“What houses were your parents put into?”

“Doblest, just like all the Krums and Markovski’s,” she said.

Cait felt a lump developing within her throat then, wondering what would happen if she was not sorted into Doblest, and had an inkling that she would be rejected again.

Cait and Annie went downstairs for breakfast shortly thereafter; Vlad was sitting at the head of the table, his nose buried in that morning’s edition of _The Circadian Chronicle_. Lina was gently telling their house-elf, Tessy, what would be appropriate options for breakfast. And Viktor was chewing on a piece of buttered toast as he waited for Tessy to finish breakfast.

“Good morning, girls,” Vlad said without looking up.

“Really, Vlad,” Lina scolded gently, shaking her head at her husband as she looked at Annie and Cait, and got to her feet, smoothing their hair slightly and caressing both their cheeks. “How did the two of you sleep?”

“Well, thank you, Máyka,” Annie said with a smile, slipping into her customary chair, with Cait sitting just beside her. “I think we’re ready for the day.”

“Are you?” Vlad asked, folding up his newspaper and setting it aside. “You’ve told Cait about Doblest and all that?”

“Yes, Tatko,” Annie told him with a nod. “Cait listened.”

Cait giggled. “The best that one can do so early in the day before breakfast.”

Lina laughed at that. “So true. How are things coming, Tessy?”

“Tessy is making everyone’s favorites today, Mistress Lina,” Tessy squeaked from the kitchen with a smile.

“Thank you, Tessy,” Lina said to the elf.

Breakfast was served shortly thereafter—a mess of crepes, sausages, eggs, Mesenitza, Patatnik, and Banitsa, which was quickly becoming a favorite of Cait’s. They spoke of little over breakfast, other than Annie and Cait’s upcoming day and what traveling would entail. From what Cait gathered, the location of Durmstrang was top-secret, with very few actually knowing its formal location. All people did know was that it was somewhere high in the mountains, a place that was so uninhabitable that Muggles hadn’t stumbled across it yet and, those who happened to get to close, were suddenly diverted by the anti-Muggle wards.

Once breakfast was finished and Tessy began darting about the kitchen cleaning it up, everyone went back upstairs to wash their hands and faces, as well as brush their teeth again. Viktor would be remaining at home in Tessy’s care while Vlad and Lina escorted Annie and Cait to the drop-off point for Durmstrang. Viktor had been a bit sullen over the morning meal, due to the fact that he was still deemed too young to attend Durmstrang, and accompany the girls, plus Vlad and Lina, to the station. Once they’d finished cleaning themselves up, Lina took both girls aside and put a long braid in Annie’s hair, and two long braids into Cait’s hair.

“Why the braids?” Cait asked, lifting one and then the other.

“Shows that we’re in the same family,” Annie explained. “It shows that I’m the elder sister, and you’re the younger one.”

Cait shrugged it off and went to gather her trunk; the beast of a thing had been painted with C.S.S., for her initials, while Annie’s said A.M.K. for hers. They said goodbye to Viktor, who was still slightly bitter this morning because he wanted to come to school as well, and waved to him before they all Apparated with a crack out of the living room. Cait found herself in an alleyway with Vlad, Lina, and Annie shortly thereafter, and they turned a corner, filing in with the crowd of people around them. A nearby sign declared the place Sofia Central Station, and Vlad explained that they had to get to the wizarding platform.

“There’s a wizarding platform?” Cait whispered.

“Yes, of course. It’s Platform 12¼,” Annie said softly.

They made it to a stone wall not too far into the station, and Vlad instructed first Annie, who ran through with him, and then Lina, who took Cait, to run through it as fast as they could. On the other side, with Annie proclaiming with excitement that the Durmstrang Cavalcade had been found at last. The train itself was a striking green color, all with white trim and, as they stepped forward, around the mass of parents saying goodbye to their children, a smartly-dressed luggage gatherer motioned them forward. He lifted both of their trunks with ease, letting them know that the trunks would magically find them in their common rooms later that evening. Once their cases were taken away, Cait and Annie turned to regard Vlad and Lina, who were doing their best to put on brave faces in their respective ways.

“Don’t worry about a thing,” Lina said, breaking first and bending down to embrace the both of them fleetingly. “You two will have such a wonderful time.”

“And make Doblest,” Vlad put in.

Lina pulled back from the girls and glared at him. “Vlad, really...”

Vlad cleared his throat on a wave of emotion. “Right, right. Um... Have a wonderful time. Use the stationary that we got you and write every week.”

“We love you,” Lina said, embracing the two of them again. “Promise to be safe.”

“We will be,” Cait and Annie said at once.

Finally, Vlad persuaded Lina to turn them loose, and the girls turned around, heading into the train itself and searching for a compartment. The cushions on the seats were red, trimmed with white, and Annie explained that the trio of colors symbolized Bulgaria. Cait nodded at that, as she was well-aware of what a Bulgarian flag looked like, but remained silent as they came to an empty compartment and slipped inside. Cait sat by the window and Annie did the same, the latter smoothing her robes and fumbling with her wand.

“What are you doing?” Cait asked.

“Just waiting.”

Cait blinked. “For what?”

“Zakharoza Bonbon,” she said softly.

“Not following,” Cait whispered back.

“It’s the sweets trolley,” Annie explained with a grin. “Why do you think Máyka and Tatko gave us so many Galleons?”

Cait raised her eyebrows. “They’re for sweets?”

“Well, of course they’re for sweets!” Annie said, practically bouncing with excitement. “You’ll have to figure out what your favorite treat is.”

“Which one’s yours?”

“Sugar Quills,” Annie said with a dreamy expression on her face. “You can nibble at them whilst pretending to study. It’s all in great fun.”

The trolley came by when they’d been on the train for a good hour, and the kindly, elderly witch was quite patient with them as they looked over her wares. Cait watched as Annie selected Sugar Quills, Peppermint Toads, Crystalized Pineapple, Exploding Bonbons, Sugared Butterfly Wings, and Pumpkin Pasties. Cait stepped forward next when it was her turn, ultimately selecting packages of Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Glacial Snow Flakes, and Fudge Flies.

The girls, once they’d purchased all they’d wanted, and a very happy witch trotted away from them to the next compartment, they piled their sweets between them. Annie would encourage Cait to try various things, and, with the exception of the toads, pineapple, and the pasties, Cait enjoyed all the treats they’d bought that day. Cait had never been fond of mint, or very many fruits, and pumpkin seemed to be something one would carve for fun, and not something that needed to be ingested in any way.

Cait turned and looked outside as they headed further north, and saw the faint outline of a mountain range beyond, which Annie declared had to be where the Durmstrang fortress was. It was quite a shock for Cait that Annie seemed to know it was a fortress, but perhaps Vlad had filled her in on its architectural style; after all, it wasn’t forbidden to give your children some information on the institution. Cait figured that Vlad and Lina had prepared both Annie and Viktor for the day when they would arrive at Durmstrang for the first time, and had given them as much information as they were allowed to give.

Annie would pull at her robes intermittently as her nerves threatened to get better of her; girls at Durmstrang were required to wear a long-sleeved, white, button-down dress shirt; a knee-length black skirt or black trousers; black tights if a skirt was worn, or simple black dress shoes and socks if trousers were worn; a black sweater atop the shirt; a black robe; black dress shoes; and a decorative silk ribbon inside the collar of their shirts, the gold color magically changing when they’d been sorted; the boys would wear elegant ties. Each ribbon was held in place by a pin, in the shape of the animal whose house they’d been sorted into. There were various cuts of the uniform, Cait had noticed as well, with the more expensive ones being tailored to the person expertly, with undetectable Extension Charms or Reduction Charms in case the person gained or lost weight during the year; these were the robes that Cait and Annie wore now, and it was clear to Cait that the Krums spared no expense.

The sky seemed to darken as the journey continued, and, when they finally were pulling to a complete stop, Annie darted to her feet, and pulled Cait up with her. The first-years were instructed to cross the stone bridge across from the train tracks and come directly into the school, while the second-years and above would go around to the back entrance to get into the Great Hall, known formally as the Stolovaya, which neither girl had been permitted to see yet. Both girls fell in line with the smallest group of students and navigated themselves directly to the stone bridge; darkness enveloped them completely, and if it wasn’t for the massive torches which illuminated the bridge on either side of them, Cait wondered if they would go toppling off the edge and into the water.

They stepped inside of the school and were immediately directed to a grand staircase by a suit of armor, who seemed to come to life at their approach, bowing in welcome, and promptly extending its sword towards the staircase, so that there would be no mistake as to which direction the young witches and wizards needed to go. Cait raised her eyebrows at the display and her gaze promptly wandered upwards as they advanced upon the staircase, and it was then that she noticed the pristine-looking witch waiting for them. She heard a gasp from beside her as Annie found her hand, squeezing it gently. She turned and regarded Annie for a moment, whose face was flushed with excitement.

“That’s Deputy Headmistress Albena Vulchanova,” she whispered breathlessly as they all stepped closer to the witch with dark red hair. “Her twenty-ninth great-grandmother was the headmistress here, back when the school first opened in 1294.”

“Is she good at her job?” Cait whispered back.

Annie nodded. “Very. She’s Head of Doblest House, too,” she said softly as they student body stopped walking and gathered around the top of the staircase.

“Good evening, and welcome to Durmstrang Institute,” said the Deputy Headmistress to the new group of students, in what could only be described as a reverent tone. “The sorting ceremony will begin shortly, and, in case your parents or guardians haven’t informed you of what that entails, I will be here to let you know right now.” She looked around then, her deep blue eyes looking over the new students, and came to rest briefly on Cait, before she continued speaking. “All of you will come forth into the Stolovaya, while the rest of the already-established students will be watching you from the risers around the area. You will be called alphabetically, and you will drink from the Chalice of Choice, which has been filled with Gamza. You will then feel the overwhelming urge to spit, but you will instead breathe fire out of your lips. Whatever color the fire takes on will be the house in which you will be sorted into, and will take the form and shape of its animal, as well as emit the sound from said animal. You will remain in the house the Chalice of Choice has deemed appropriate for you until your commencement from here, when you are seventeen, or eighteen, years old. If you are all prepared to do so, please follow me into the Stolovaya, where the sorting ceremony will begin.”

With that, Deputy Headmistress Vulchanova turned about in a sea of elegant red and black robes, and led the new Durmstrang first-years into the Stolovaya. True to her word, the second-years and above were situated on various risers in the four corners of the room, while the back of the room was taken up by a large table. At the large table, there was an ornately-carved throne in the direct center, where Headmaster Karkaroff was seated, and, all around him—save for the slightly understated throne beside him, which Cait guessed was where Deputy Headmistress Vulchanova sat—there were seats filled with rather imposing witches and wizards.

On the center of the floor of the Stolovaya was another table, which was atop a jagged stone, which Cait readily recognized as the shape of Bulgaria from her geography textbooks at her Muggle school. The table was as highly-polished as the professors’ table was, and there was a bolt of expensive-looking lace upon it and, atop that, was, Cait presumed, the Chalice of Choice that the deputy headmistress had mentioned before. It was golden in color, and although seemed to be very old, seemed to be quite clean overall. Around the top of it, Cait noticed that it was studded with garnets, jeremejevites, lavender chalcedony, and aventurine, which she deduced were likely to represent Doblest, Pronitsatelen, Vȗtreshno, and Istinski.

Cait took the opportunity to survey the rest of the room; there were long tables, four of them, which had been pushed back against the respective walls, and she guessed that they were for the students’ use when first-years were not being made a spectacle of. The walls were made of stone, limestone, if she remembered correctly, on which were carved ancient-looking runes, likely for the four houses. Atop the ceiling—which was easily fifteen feet high—was a massive stained glass portrait, which featured a red and black Peryton, a blue and silver Graphorn, a purple and gray Mackled Malaclaw, and a green and white Nogtail. These images moved, bowing down at the first-years which stood directly below them, almost as if they were welcoming them to the fortress itself, and silently betting on who would be sorted where.

Deputy Headmistress Vulchanova now held a long piece of parchment in her hand, and she turned about to address the students. “When your name is called, you shall step forward, lift the Chalice of Choice, drink of the wine, and you will be sorted. Stefan Antonov,” she intoned, and a boy stepped forward.

It took a few moments for all the names from A to J to be called, and Cait could sense Annie’s nerves again threatening to get the better of her as they stood to wait. Annie’s hand caught Cait’s again as the name Georgi Jović was called, knowing that her surname began with the following letter. Cait smiled, permitting Annie to hold tightly to her hand, unknowing what the eventual outcome would be for any of the students surrounding them.

Finally, Annie got the opportunity to go up and take her chance, and was sorted into Doblest, just like the Krums and Markovski’s before her. The rest of the K surnames were called, and as L through R were called, Cait didn’t feel the nerves taking over. It was only when the name Anelia Serafimov was called that the nerves caught hold of her and wouldn’t let go. They twisted around her then, like sea serpents, not turning her lose, and as Anelia stepped away, after being put into Istinski, that silence seemed to seep out from each corner of the room.

“Catherina Serban,” Deputy Headmistress Vulchanova called out then, effectively breaking the silence around them.

Cait, despite the lump in her throat, left the crowd and stepped forward. She nodded in thanks as the deputy headmistress performed a Cleaning Charm on the chalice—which magically re-filled with the wine after each person drank their allotted swallow—and lifted it as she had seen the other students doing. She sighed inwardly, knowing that it was now or never, and tipped the wine back into her throat. Quickly, the burning sensation arrived, and she did indeed feel the need to spit out the drink. Cait concentrated then, and parted her lips, a stream of mighty red smoke bursting forth, immediately taking the shape of a Peryton, who stomped its impressive hooves, the sounds from said hooves easily managing to reverberate around the Stolovaya, and flapped its beautiful black wings, before soaring up to the stained glass ceiling, and molding to its glass counterpart.

“Ah, Doblest,” said the deputy headmistress with a kind smile, and motioned for Cait to walk over where Annie was.

Cait didn’t need telling twice; she moved as quickly as she could to Annie’s side, who instantly took her by the hand and whispered a heartfelt “congratulations” to her. Her foster sister did not let go of her hand until the sorting had ended, and Headmaster Karkaroff got to his feet, making a quick move of summoning the tables back to their respective places, and vanishing the risers that the older students sat upon. Once Cait and Annie were directed to their intended table, the headmaster, who had remained standing, gazed at the now-larger student body.

“Welcome, new students, to Durmstrang Institute,” he said to them all. “And to those of you in second-year and above, do welcome back. I am pleased to introduce myself to the new students here this evening—for those of you who do not know, I am Headmaster Igor Karkaroff. In line with manners, you will either address me as ‘headmaster’, ‘Headmaster Karkaroff’, or ‘sir’. As for our distinguished professors, you will address them as ‘professor’, ‘professor’ with their surname attached, or ‘sir’ or ‘madam’. I am quite sure that your parents mentioned to you that Durmstrang is unable to be found on any map, even a wizarding one, and that is completely true, I am proud to say. What people know is that we are on a high mountain, and that it is always quite snowy here, hence why furred coats and caps are to be worn at all times when you are either attending classes out of doors or merely walking the grounds. As the rest of you know,” he went on, and gazed at the entirety of the hall, “Durm Selo, at the base of the mountain, is restricted to those below their third-year here. If you are a fourth-year this term, you may seek advice from fifth-years and above, as well as the professors, about how to be a prefect. As for the sixth-years, do feel free to speak to seventh-years or professors on how to be Head Boy or Head Girl for your final year. Well, I shall now permit the feast to begin, then. Have a wonderful year, boys and girls,” the headmaster said, and slapped his hands together once, and mountains of food on gold platters appeared on each table.

“What is Durm Selo?” Cait asked Annie softly, putting some roast chicken and potatoes onto her plate and turning to look at her foster sister.

Annie grinned. “It’s the wizarding village at the base of the mountain,” she replied. “Tatko would go there when Máyka was still a student here. They would get hot drinks and wander up and down the streets, just talking, for hours.”

“Why do we have to wait until third-year to go?”

“That’s just during the school year,” Annie told her quickly, putting some stew onto her plate and sniffing the air as it steamed upwards. “During the holidays, if Tatko and Máyka wanted to take us, they certainly could.”

“All right... But why do we have to wait until third-year?”

“Probably so that we have a better grasp upon our magic,” Annie said with a shrug. “I’ve never questioned that rule myself.”

Cait felt a pair of eyes on her as she cut a piece of chicken, and slowly turned to see Headmaster Karkaroff staring at her, unblinking. Cait, not knowing what else to do, nodded at him, before she turned back to her evening meal. Dinner passed quickly, as did dessert, and soon, she and Annie, as well as the rest of the Doblest first-years, were taken upstairs by fifth-year Durmstrang student Alexandra Stoica, the younger female prefect for Doblest House that year. She had raven-black hair and piercing blue eyes, and spoke efficiently as she brought the new batch of Doblest students up the staircases and towards the Doblest common room.

Inside the stone door, there were swaths of red and black throughout, with red carpeting and curtains, and black furniture that was finely upholstered. There was a great stone fireplace within the circle of two armchairs and a massive couch, creating quite the little sitting area. There was a spiraling stone staircase beyond, which Alexandra informed the first-years led to the various dormitories, and that their suitcases and such would be up there waiting for them. It was explained that curfew for first-years was precisely at eight o’clock, and would continue to go up one half hour per year so, by seventh year, their curfew would be eleven o’clock.

Soon thereafter, they were excused to head upstairs; each dormitory in corresponding years were opposite one another, with the girls’ on the left and the boys’ on the right. The first-year dormitories were just a few steps up, and, once inside, Cait detected an Extension Charm, which permitted the beds to fit, plus a large bathroom, which was complete with a few toilet stalls, one for each girl; two rows of spacious-looking showers; a bathtub which took up the entirety of the rooms’ back wall; and a line of generously-sized sinks. There were six girls to the dorm, and each one of the girls introduced themselves—pretty, blonde and vivacious Malvina Kyrkos of Greece; the dark-haired mischievous twins Teodora and Tamara Jovanović of Serbia; and auburn-haired, soft-spoken Veta Lazarevski of North Macedonia.

The girls then opted to shower and, once they were each garbed in their nightdresses and brushing their hair, they all spoke of home. Malvina’s parents had married young and she had three older brothers, the youngest of whom was in his final year at Durmstrang, while the other two were touring the world. The twins were the only children in their family, but they had an abundance of cousins on both sides, and had unfortunately lost their mother at the age of three, while their father was constantly at work, so they had been brought up by various nannies. As for Veta, she was an only child for years until she had a younger brother who had been born just two years before, after her parents had tried for years to conceive again.

As the conversation went on, it became clear that all the girls were very excited to hear that Cait was actually an American Pureblood, who had been given away by her family at birth. Each one of them were embittered towards whoever had given her up, with Cait’s guess that it was Margaret officially on the table, as they felt that they would have been lucky to have her. Cait, so unused to people—other than the Krum family the last handful of months—defending her in such a way, was amazed that people, who hardly knew her, would do such a thing. She thanked them all profusely, and seemed pleased to have a new set of friends who liked her.

“What’s it like being a twin?” Cait asked Teodora and Tamara.

Tamara laughed, twirling her fingers in her hair, which was just a shade darker than Teodora’s, making it easier to tell them apart. “Like there’s an exact copy of you out there.”

“And you’ll _always_ have a best friend,” Teodora put in, resting her head down on Tamara’s shoulder with a small sigh.

“Being the only girl was always something I struggled with,” Malvina put in a moment later as she tossed her blonde mane. “Cletus, Elias, and Galen always were excited to spend time together, and talk about Durmstrang. They all seemed a bit disappointed that I got accepted, because they were of the mind that women shouldn’t practice magic...”

“They were?!” Veta cried, her blue eyes widening in a moment of shock. “That’s terrible. I know that Majka and Tato will never teach Mihail those values...”

“I think it was our grandfather, Alec, who planted the idea into their heads,” Malvina said, and shook her head. “Thankfully, he just had my dad and his brother, Adrian, to parent. I’d be afraid to think about if I had any paternal aunts.”

“My parents have invested all their hopes in Viktor,” Annie put in with a small sigh. “I don’t think they even thought that I’d get into Durmstrang.”

“What’s Viktor like?” Veta asked.

“He wants to play Quidditch,” Annie said, throwing herself back onto her four-poster bed in a moment of disdain. “But they’re afraid that he’ll hurt himself, so they hold him back in an effort for him to hone his accidental magic...”

Cait straightened out the blankets on her own bed and sighed. “I didn’t even know I was a witch, until Headmaster Karkaroff met me at my school last winter.”

“What tipped him off?” Teodora asked, looking up.

“Her powers,” Annie said, grinning at Cait.

“Powers? What powers?” Tamara wanted to know.

Cait smiled slightly then, and turned to look at Annie’s bedside table, which boasted a glass of water. Effortlessly, she reached out with her index finger, gently gliding it upwards, and the water spurted out of the cup. Next, Cait pushed her entire hand towards it, leaving it suspended in midair, while all the girls gasped aloud at her prowess. Finally, having enough, she jutted all five of her fingers out, thus returning the water to the glass.

“Maybe that’ll lead you to finding your family,” Malvina said quietly.

Cait shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know if I even want to anymore,” she confessed. “Why should I let them in now, when they didn’t even want me before?”

. . .

Cait soon learned that the whole rumor about Durmstrang Institute being so inclined towards the Dark Arts within its curriculum was completely true. The Dark Arts professor, Professor Petar Gushtanov, was Macedonian and was quite tall, with honey-colored eyes. He was quite passionate about the subject, and, according to Annie, had been teaching at Durmstrang for around fifteen years. The classroom itself had a dark and brooding air to it, and Cassia sat with Annie at one of the provided desks in the second row.

Professor Gushtanov swept into the room at the appropriate hour, his expensively-cut red and gold robes reminiscent of the Macedonian flag. He gave a tight smile as he addressed the new clutch of students before him, and instructed them to take out their books—_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble. Cait did as she was told, with Annie mirroring her actions from beside her; as she had done in the shop, Cait gazed questioningly at the black cover of the book, which seemed to hold dark secrets within it.

“Today,” Professor Gushtanov began, “we will be discussing the hag, a child-eating creature of human appearance,” he said, and peered around the classroom. “Who here can tell me how one may readily spot a hag?” he wanted to know, his eyes fanning out expertly, until they came to rest upon Cait, who startled slightly in her seat. “Ah, yes, the third child of Krum,” he said knowingly, and Cait could hear Annie seething from beside her, and wanted to ask her why, but decided to keep her mouth shut instead. “Perhaps you could enlighten us how one can spot a hag?” he wanted to know.

“Warts,” Cait said softly, and Professor Gushtanov looked disappointed at her answer. “Muggle fairy tales often like to depict witches with warts, sir, but you’ll find that the hag has more warts than the average witch.”

“Yes, well, I suppose ten points to Doblest House would be appropriate,” he growled, and there was a shuddering from within the castle walls, indicating that it had been done, and the points had been added. “Now then, a hag has four toes on each foot, resemble that of a troll, and have an aptitude for rudimentary magic...”

“I should have warned you properly,” Annie told Cait as they slipped from Dark Arts and made their way to herbology, across the castle and down the stairs onto the expansive, mountainous grounds. “Professor Gushtanov is also Head of Istinski House, and is an alumni of the house,” she explained, not wanting to get caught spoken out of turn in the castle corridors. “He went to school at the same time as Tatko and Máyka. He’s always hated our family, because of his rivalry with Tatko.”

“What happened?” Cait wanted to know.

“Máyka threw over Professor Gushtanov for Tatko,” Annie whispered, her voice deathly quiet as they reached the ground floor, and moved towards the double doors to take them out onto the castle grounds.

Cait raised her eyebrows. “Threw over?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

“Máyka was promised in marriage to Professor Gushtanov previously, from the time that they were in the cradle,” Annie went on, stepping through the doors, which came open when the girls arrived there. “However, when Máyka was fourteen, she fell in love with Tatko, and begged her parents to end her betrothal to Professor Gushtanov. When her parents realized she would never love the professor, they agreed, and she and Tatko became engaged when they were eighteen, and married shortly thereafter.”

Cait did her best to follow Annie’s words, although it was slightly difficult, due to the uneven ground they were forced to cross to approach a series of greenhouses. “But that doesn’t explain why the professor would take it out on us,” she whispered, and Annie took her hand to ensure that she didn’t fall. “We haven’t done anything...”

“Nor do you bear the name of Krum,” Annie said, not unkindly. “Methinks that he is looking for a fight and, if encouraged, it would mean the loss of points.”

Cait turned and faced Annie then, just before they stepped into the greenhouse for their first class with Professor Ekin Lončar. The professor in question was seen peering over some impressive potted Riveting Roses; roses, Cait remembered, were the national flower of Bulgaria, and the Riveting Roses were cultivated here at Durmstrang Institute, which Lina had informed both her and Annie about in the weeks leading up into their admittance to the school. Professor Lončar turned then as the last few students filed into the greenhouse, and she smiled, two rows of perfect white teeth gleaming ever so slightly, as she put the final pots of roses down onto the working table in the center of the warmed area.

“Good morning, first-years,” she said in a friendly manner.

“Good morning, Professor Lončar,” everyone chimed back.

The woman gleamed at her students, looking them over one by one, her long blonde hair done up in a complex style beneath a fashionable kerchief. “Today we will be discussing Riveting Roses, the form of roses that we cultivate most in the Wizarding World. Now, while in the Muggle world, there are no black roses, that is not the case here. However, those are known formally as what?” she asked.

Promptly, Annie raised her hand at the question.

“Yes, Miss Krum?” asked Professor Lončar.

“They are known as Ruinous Roses, professor,” Annie replied with a smile in the woman’s direction. “In an essence, the effect of using black roses, say in a potion that did not specify a color to use beforehand, it could prove disastrous.”

Professor Lončar smiled and raised her eyebrows. “And what color, Miss Krum, would you suggest one uses for rose petals within a potion?”

“Depends on what the potion is being utilized for in the first place, ma’am. If one wanted a catastrophic result, then black roses would, in that situation, be appropriate. However, if one wanted something good to happen, I’d say something like white, for goodness, or one could use yellow, for something like joy.”

“Methinks that you took a potion with blue rose petals, for superiority, Krum,” said Stefan Antonov, a member of Istinski House, said in a scathing manner, which caused his cronies, Ivan Utkin and Nikolai Vasiliev, to laugh heartily.

Annie flushed red at the implication, and Cait glared at Stefan, her wand itching to get into her palm, so as she could hex him right there.

“That’s enough from you, Mr. Antonov,” said Professor Lončar, looking none too pleased with the boys’ actions. “Ten points from Istinski House, each, and one more negative word out of you about your fellow classmates will see you in detention.”

Stefan looked most put out by the professor’s words, but humbled himself accordingly and hung his head, his cronies doing the same. “Yes, ma’am,” he replied.

“Now, if you don’t wish for a detention, you three will apologize accordingly to Miss Krum,” the woman went on, and Cait reached downwards, squeezing Annie’s hand.

Stefan looked up at Annie, his eyes bright, and said, “I humbly apologize for my behavior towards you, Miss Krum. It shan’t happen again.”

Annie nodded. “Thank you,” she said shortly.

“Now then,” said Professor Lončar, “let us continue with our lesson. Riveting Roses have several magical properties within them, and must be handled with both care and sensitivity when you are cultivating them...”

“I don’t believe that rat for a moment,” whispered Annie to Cait, as they packed up their things at the end of Professor Lončar’s invigorating lecture.

Cait turned slightly so as she would appear to be listening to Professor Lončar’s final remarks, when, in reality, she was listening to Annie. “Why not?” she asked.

“The Antonov family is as powerful as they are small-minded, mean, and pig-headed,” Annie explained as quickly and quietly as she could as they filed out of the classroom, and made their way towards the outer grounds, where they would receive their first flying lessons.

“Seems to me that a lot of Purebloods are like that,” Cait said with a shrug, although she said this softly, as most of the student body of Durmstrang was made up of them.

Annie tucked her arm within Cait’s and continued, “The Antonov’s are like the Malfoy family in Great Britain, or the Romano family of the United States.”

Cait knew of the Malfoy family—what member of the Wizarding World did not?—but something seemed to stir within her at the mention of the Romano family, which she could not explain, as she had never heard of them. “Who are they? The Romano’s,” she clarified, wanting Annie to know that she knew about the Malfoys.

“The Romano’s are as dark as they come,” Annie told Cait with a shudder. “They support You-Know-Who as much as they can, although they are on the other side of the pond. Their collection of dark artifacts and books is said to be legendary, and they even have connections to the wizarding mob in Italy.”

“Surely they cannot be that bad...”

“Money can get you out of so much—take Lucius Malfoy,” Annie went on. “You know as well as I do that he was able to get Britain’s Wizengamot to believe he was under the Imperius Curse when he served under You-Know-Who. The head of the Romano family teaches his beliefs from the time his children were in the cradle, and they themselves taught their children. He only had two—a son and a daughter. The son’s children are eating up the philosophy of the Romano family; as for the daughter, she had a daughter and the son. The daughter is our age, and should be starting at Ilvermorny as we speak, and her brother still has a couple of years before he begins his magical education...”

“Has the daughter—?”

“Cassia,” Annie told Cait with a smile. “The Krums have always been in contact with various Wizarding families across the globe, and birth announcements are popular. Cassia is the name of the daughter, and her younger brother is called Edgar.”

“Are they leaning towards the teachings of their family?” Cait asked, feeling worried and a little frightened to feel some magic thrumming just beneath the surface of her skin, as she and Annie spoke of this girl, Cassia, whom she hadn’t even known had existed mere moments before.

Annie sighed. “Undoubtedly. However, Cassia is intelligent, and methinks she will work out for herself what she believes is right and wrong, no matter what she is taught at home,” she replied. “As for Edgar... Well, he has made himself quite the pet of his mother—he’s the favored child out of the two—and it seems he doesn’t even know his own mind, or, rather, is perfectly content with it being made up for him, so to speak.”

“Merlin,” Cait whispered with a shudder. “To live in a family like that... I mean, most of the foster homes I was in were bad, but...” Cait stumbled then, as if something had made contact with her back—it was the sensation of a rope slashing at her skin, opening it for a period, before the sensation was gone.

“Cait?” Anne asked, peering into her face. “You all right?”

Cait shook her head and cleared her throat. “Yeah, sorry,” she said, and forced out a laugh. “I sometimes get caught up in memories of my former life.”

Annie smiled an easy smile at that and put an arm around Cait. “Well, maybe trying to fly will cheer you up,” she declared, and steered her towards the flying portion of the campus.

. . .

Flying _did_ end up cheering Cait up, so much so that she had been encouraged to try out for the Doblest House Team, gaining the role of reserve Chaser in the interim, provided that she kept up with her schoolwork. Annie was delighted to have her closest friend, whom she quite thought of as her sister, upon the team, and both she and Cait eagerly wrote back to the Krum household that Cait had been made Doblest’s newest reserve player. Both Vlad and Lina were ecstatic at the news, and promised to come to as many games that Cait participated in as they possibly could.

As the school year continued, Cait discovered her passion for charms and Magical Theory, and would impress Professors Hamilton and Vulchanova more than once during class time. She found that she truly adored magic, and wanted to learn as much as she possibly could about it, no matter what the cost. Sir Skovgaard, the librarian and bookkeeper for Durmstrang, who was normally a bit standoffish towards students—for he felt as if many of them didn’t understand how to treat books with respect—was all too happy to assist Cait in finding the best books necessary for her assignments, and Cait, in turn, kept quiet during her lengthy reading and study sessions within the library.

The library itself was beautiful, and unlike anything one would consider being a part of such an austere fortress like Durmstrang. Sir Skovgaard had explained to Cait and Annie that the theme was reminiscent of Russia’s impressive library, The National Library of Russia. There were a plethora of pillars within the space, which were carved and painted expertly. The ceilings themselves were high and decorated with intricate patterns and paintings of former headmasters and headmistresses of Durmstrang in oils, all via Wizard Space, according to Sir Skovgaard. The shelves themselves were a combination of deep cherry wood and gilt, which framed the edges and carried the massive and ancient-looking tomes reverently. Each section of the library had platinum plaques placed just so, with the carved words of the subject matter of the books within them, to ensure that no student ever got lost among the stacks. It was seldom, according to Sir Skovgaard, that such students of Cait and Annie’s age that cared so much about the subjects they were learning. Although it soon became clear that Annie much preferred that of potions and transfiguration to Magical Theory and charms, but she was always polite, and so there was plenty for her to read by default, or perhaps it was her association with Cait.

It was after class at the end of their third week at Durmstrang that found Cait and Annie in their dormitory, resting and looking over their homework before heading downstairs to dinner. Cait was looking over their upcoming essay for Magical Theory, while Annie was reading ahead in their charms’ textbook, _The Book of Charms and Spells, Grade One_ by Miranda Goshawk, while Cait was buried within _Magical Theory, Grade One_ by Adalbert Waffling. Annie was lying on her back, book raised up in the air reverently, while Cait in turn was upon her stomach, her red stocking-covered legs dangling in mid-air.

“Have you heard about Halloween yet?” Annie asked casually, lowering her charms text and looking over at Cait.

Cait shook her head, her eyes never leaving the book; in the twenty-one or so days that the girls had been students at Durmstrang, she had made herself a favorite of Professor Vulchanova, and the woman seemed to like her very much. “No, I haven’t,” she replied.

Annie pursed her lips before she pitched herself upwards, putting her thumb into her charms book and clutched it tightly. “Goblins.”

This was intriguing enough for Cait to turn her head away from Waffling’s writings and look over at her foster sister. “What about them?”

Annie grinned, pleased that she now had Cait’s attention. “Well, in my latest correspondence from Tatko and Máyka, they told me about Durmstrang’s Halloween tradition.”

Cait’s brows knit together at that, and she, too pushed herself upwards, peering closer at Annie in a moment of confusion. “What do goblins have to do with that?”

“Apparently, they’re made welcome into the school for some reason, but Tatko and Máyka refused to give me any more information,” Annie pouted.

Cait crossed her arms. “Well, it could be that they are guest lecturers for Dark Arts,” she said thoughtfully. “After all, Professor Gushtanov told us that we’d be covering goblins next month, after we finished with hags this month.”

Annie got slowly to her feet, running her fingertips along the intricate patters of the glossy four-poster of her bed as she stepped into her shoes; dinner hour was fast approaching, after all. “I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see,” she mused, waiting for Cait to put on her shoes as well, before following her.

Cait and Annie didn’t have to wait too long to find out about the goblins.

There were whisperings for weeks afterwards from the second-years and above about the Halloween celebrations, but there seemed to be an unspoken pact between them that they wouldn’t go telling the first-years about it. Cait, Annie, and the rest of their Doblest dorm mates were growing annoyed, especially given that Stefan Antonov continually wandered around the corridors, a smug expression on his face, as if he knew everything about it. Cait rolled her eyes at the expression, and Annie kept muttering that his father must have told Stefan about it, because he was first and foremost a spoiled little boy with no patience.

“Can you _believe_ that Hogwarts School has something as lowly as a gamekeeper?” Stefan sneered as he, Ivan, and Nikolai trooped towards History of Magic with Professor Reeves, during the second week of October. “Half-giant, he is, you know. The great buffoon got expelled from Hogwarts decades ago, but the sentimental old fool of a headmaster they have now begged to keep him on the staff. They shouldn’t be subjecting students to the presence of a half breed like _that_!” he declared.

“Disgusting,” Cait muttered, out of earshot from Stefan.

Annie nodded. “Absolutely disgusting.”

“So what if they have a gamekeeper and we don’t?” Cait queried. “So what if all of our provisions are brought in directly from Durm Selo, or imported in?”

“Not like we have a forest to hunt down game, anyway,” Annie said stoutly. “Hogwarts is surrounded by a forest, you know.”

Cait blinked. “No, I didn’t know.”

“It’s forbidden,” Annie whispered. “Magical creatures run around in there, and there could be a lawsuit if one of the students got hurt or killed wandering around in there.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Cait allowed.

“And Hagrid is the half-giant’s name, according to Tatko,” Annie said with a smile. “Tatko says that Hagrid is as gentle as a lamb.”

On Halloween night, Cait and Annie, plus the rest of the first-years, journeyed downstairs to the Stolovaya in a middling state of trepidation and excitement. They all went towards their house tables and waited for Headmaster Karkaroff to speak. It seemed as if the headmaster wanted to keep things short that evening, for he merely wished them a wonderful evening and told them to enjoy the feast that had been laid out for them. There were numerous kinds of desserts on offer for pudding that night, and Cait smiled to herself, remembering her handful of years in foster care while still in the States, and how big a deal Halloween had been for the youngsters, due to trick-or-treating.

Once dinner formally began and Cait was chewing on some roast chicken, and Annie upon some heavily-seasoned kebabs, they could distinctly hear some crashing and splintering sounds from outside the Stolovaya. Perplexed, the pair looked at one another, and then towards the other side of the great room when the doors suddenly came crashing open, and dozens of goblins—garbed in torn clothing and carrying what appeared to be ancient-looking spears—charged inside. They let out guttural screams, which easily drowned out that of the students’ yells, who slipped in between the creatures and charged out into the hallway, the goblins at their heels, swinging their spears back and forth menacingly.

Cait grabbed ahold of Annie’s hand and charged ahead, wanting to put as much distance between herself, her best friend, and the goblins as possible. They went up the first staircase they saw and headed directly down the corridor they met upon the first landing, shoving themselves into a particularly deep alcove as quickly as possible. Smashing their bodies upon the stone wall, Cait’s wand came down her sleeve then, and she pointed it at the end of the corridor, knowing that she had to do something.

“_Repello Cobalus_,” she whispered, the light haze escaping from the tip of her wand, and filtered every which way around them, hovering around them for a moment, before it drifted off in the direction where the shouts of various students were coming.

“If this was the Halloween tradition Tatko and Máyka were talking about,” Annie declared as she spoke through her teeth, and smoothed out her robes, “I don’t much care for it.”

Footsteps came down the corridor shortly thereafter, and Cait peered around the edge of the alcove, swearing internally when she caught the glance of Professor Gushtanov. “This evening can’t possibly get any worse,” she muttered to Annie.

“Miss Serban and I assume Miss Krum,” the professor said, stopping about a foot away from the alcove. “Come out of there at once.”

Cait sighed, but nevertheless slipped out from the alcove, Annie at her heels. “Yes, professor,” she said, trying her best not to sound morose.

Professor Gushtanov looked the girls up and down, and ran his hand through the air. “I sense a fair amount of complex magic through here,” he observed softly. “Which one of you casted a spell?”

“I did, sir,” Cait said softly, awaiting punishment.

“What was it you cast, then, Miss Serban?”

“A repellant charm for goblins, sir,” Cait told the Dark Arts professor steadily.

“And how did you come up with this?”

“Reading, mostly, sir,” Cait said, staring at the floor.

“Explain it to me, Miss Serban.”

Cait looked up at the man, slightly taken aback that he was not being condescending. “Well, I modified the Muggle Repellant Charm, sir, and adapted it for use for goblins,” she said with a short shrug. “Apparently, it worked, because none of them came up here. That, or they’re only permitted upon the first floor of the school.”

“That is...quite advanced,” the Dark Arts professor stated, clearly impressed with Cait’s reasoning, despite her deep connection with the Krum family. “I must admit, whenever I did happen to spot you reading, I thought it was...”

“Muggle romance?” Cait asked with a sneer.

Professor Gushtanov actually laughed at the suggestion. “Merlin, no, although I did suspect Muggle literature of some kind,” he replied.

Cait rolled back on the balls of her feet, knowing full well she would never be this confident, had Annie not been there. “Well, Shakespeare does impress me at the end of things, although sometimes I do wish he’d hurry up and get to the point. Pretty words and their meanings can only go so far, especially when you spend paragraph upon paragraph trying to reach the main point of the discussion at hand.”

“You’re eleven,” Professor Gushtanov said softly. “Usually, from what I can recollect of the Muggle educational system around here, it is not even broached upon as a subject matter until your gymnasia school years...”

_Gymnasia? Oh. High school or secondary school_, Cait quickly reminded herself. “I was raised in Muggle foster care until the age of eleven, when Headmaster Karkaroff arranged for me to be placed into the care of the Krums,” she said matter-of-factly, and Annie quickly moved forward, so as she stood just beside Cait, in a moment of protection and loyalty. “I soon came to the conclusion by the age of five—shortly before I came to this country—that I wouldn’t be adopted, due to the fact that strange happenings happened.”

“Accidental magic?” Professor Gushtanov asked.

Cait sighed; it would have to come out to more than just the headmaster or the Krum family sooner rather than later, and Merlin preserve her, Cait would decide when that was. “Among other things,” she allowed.

Professor Gushtanov looked confused. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re holding something back from me?” he asked, not unkindly.

Cait nibbled at her bottom lip. “Perhaps because I am, sir.”

“As a professor at this school, I don’t wish any harm to come to the staff or students...”

Cait growled underneath her breath, and sighed, knowing that it had come to this. “It won’t cause any danger,” she said, and held out her wand. “_Accio_ goblet,” she said, and a golden goblet came sailing from the direction of the staircase, landing with a smack into her palm. She then held it steadily in one hand, whilst pointing her wand inside it. “_Aguamenti_,” she uttered, and water flowed from the tip of her wand.

“You don’t have to do this,” Annie whispered from beside her.

Cait sighed. “I do if I want to put this somewhat to rest,” she answered. Pocketing her wand once more, Cait threw the goblet up into the air, the water cascading around them, while Annie, thinking quickly, used a Levitation Charm and Summoning Spell so that it did not clatter to the stone floor beneath them. Lifting out her own hand, Cait immediately proceeded to wave the water this way and that, and Professor Gushtanov looked positively shocked at the admittedly impressive display before him.

Once the water show was over, Professor Gushtanov regarded Cait carefully. “And you truly have no idea where you come from?” he asked.

Cait shook her head, admittedly a bit weakened by the invention of the spell earlier to deter the goblins from following her and Annie, the Summoning Charm for the goblet, and the display with her Hydrokinesis. “No,” she replied, “I just always thought I was different. I was abandoned at birth; I know I’m from the States, and that I was born in King County—an area in Washington State—but not much else. I was immediately surrendered to foster care at birth, and had no idea about the Wizarding World until the headmaster found me.”

Professor Gushtanov looked shocked at the declaration. “The headmaster found you?” he wanted to know, perplexed. “Usually, if a child is in a Muggle kind of situation, they don’t know about the Wizarding World until their letter arrives. Then, there is a male or female representative from the school they’ve been accepted into who is assigned to the young witch or wizards’ case, and they explain to the child and their family about the world, their school, and the Statue of Secrecy, if need be.”

Cait shook her head once more at the Dark Arts professor. “None of that happened for me,” she said quietly. “After five years in American foster care, I heard about an academic competition wherein the selected student would study in Bulgaria. Since I spent a lot of my time reading, I managed to teach myself a couple of languages, in addition to English. Libraries are free, after all,” she said with a self-deprecating shrug.

“What languages could you speak by the age of five?” asked the professor.

“At five? English, Spanish, French, and Bulgarian, of all things,” she said. “It always sounded like something not many five-year-olds would know, so, of course, I had to learn it. I also had excellent preliminary marks in school, and I had to write an essay about why I would want to go to Bulgaria for school in the first place.”

“An essay? At five-years-old?”

Cait laughed at that. “Had to find a dictionary for that word, I admit,” she told him. “But, once I found one and then another book about writing style and whatnot, I was able to write about what being educated in a new country would really mean to me. It all broke down to a new start, so to speak, and I wanted more than anything to get out of my foster home.”

Professor Gushtanov looked angered at that last statement. “Were they abusive?”

“Neglectful, which, I suppose, is a form of abuse,” Cait said softly. “I don’t remember much about my treatment at their hands, thankfully. All I know is, I was dead-set on winning the competition, so that I could find a way to make my escape.”

“And you did,” Professor Gushtanov said.

Cait nodded. “Yes. Which is where Headmaster Karkaroff found me, at my school the Anglo-American School of Sofia,” she said softly. “All the students had gone home for break, but I was rooming there. I was in the woods surrounding the school, and playing with the snow around me and just trying to forget about schoolwork for a while... I suppose the onslaught of magic is what alerted the headmaster to me in the first place. He was very intrigued about my abilities, and told me that I was a witch, and a Pureblood one at that.”

“A Pureblood?” asked Professor Gushtanov in surprise.

“Yes,” Cait confirmed. “Like I said, I hadn’t found any family so far to tell me about anything to the contrary about my background. For all I know, they were killed in the First Wizarding War, whilst hiding out in the States.”

“Is that the theory you’re going with?”

Cait sighed, rolling her shoulders. “I’ve yet to come up with a better one,” she confessed with a small smile. “But, perhaps, I am not meant to know.”

“Perhaps you are not meant to know _yet_,” said Professor Gushtanov softly, and a genuine smile appeared on his face. “I am quite close with Sir Skovgaard,” he went on, and Cait raised her eyebrows, something telling her that the staff members were much closer than friendship, but decided not to pry. “Perhaps you would permit the two of us to look into your family background a bit, to determine who you truly are.”

Cait smiled. “I cannot tell professors or staff members what they can or cannot do, sir,” she said, and felt relieved when the man laughed.

“You deserve answers,” the professor informed her. “I suppose the proper question is, do you want to know who you are?”

Cait sighed. “Yes,” she admitted. “Yes, I do, sir.”

Professor Gushtanov nodded. “Very well, then,” he said, taking out his wand and casting a brief but effective Tempus Charm. “Oh, my. It is nearly past curfew,” he said, and clapped his hands in an efficient manner. “The two of you best get upstairs to your common room.”

“Yes, professor,” the girls chimed, and quickly made their way away from there, not wanting to be caught out late by another staff member.

“I’m not sure that I like it,” Annie whispered, once they were properly out of earshot from their Dark Arts professor.

“You don’t like what?” Cait asked.

Annie sighed. “Professor Gushtanov’s motives,” she admitted. “I mean, he only offered to do the investigative work _after_ he saw some of what you were capable of.”

Cait bit her lip. “That may be true,” she allowed, “and yet I’ve nothing to go by.”

“Genealogy?” Annie queried.

Cait shook her head. “There was no information underneath the surname of Serban,” she said in a belittling tone.

“Could it be wrong?”

Cait stopped walking then, nearly stumbling over her own two feet as she did so, and Annie turned to look at her. “What?”

“Well, it’s entirely possible that someone forged the paperwork connected to you when you were put into foster care,” Annie replied with a shrug. “It makes sense with your theory that someone was seeking to keep you hidden.”

Cait shook her head, amazed that Annie had come up with that information so quickly. “You’re brilliant, you know that?”

Annie grinned. “We’ll ask Branimir at once!” she declared, yanking Cait in the direction of the common room.

“Branimir?!” Cait demanded, and Annie slowed her pace.

“Sorry—my cousin,” she whispered. “Dad had an elder brother, but he was merely a half-sibling, and when he was murdered in the First Wizarding War, all connections were burned from existence to keep Branimir safe. His surname is Bonheur,” she went on. “Their mother, Anastasia, attended Beauxbatons, as she is a Muggleborn.”

“‘Their’ mother?” Cait asked, stopping her steps again.

“Branimir and his twin sister, Vasilisa,” Annie told her with a smile. “Branimir loves mysteries and reading, and Vasilisa loves solving them,” she explained as they headed into the common room at last. She looked around then, spotting two fourth-years that Cait had seen around the school a handful of times since the start-of-term, and Annie waved them over; they both looked guardedly around them, before Vasilisa put up what appeared to be a complex Silencing Charm, prompting Annie to bound over to the two of them, pulling Cait behind. “Bran, Lisa!” she cried out then, and Branimir got to his feet, yanking Annie into his arms and swinging her around in an enthusiastic manner; he looked quite similar to Viktor.

Vasilisa smiled at the display before she peered around the pair, and got to her feet, putting aside her potions textbook, which Cait noticed was called _A Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick, and Surgery_. “You must be Cait,” she said, offering her hand for a moment, before she promptly stepped forward and pulled her into a gentle embrace.

Shocked at the display, Cait found herself nevertheless comfortable with the display, and hugged the fourteen-year-old witch back. Once the hug dissipated, she was promptly spun around by Branimir, who greeted her with touching enthusiasm. Once greetings had concluded, Cait and Annie seated themselves upon the couch opposite the twins, seated beside the massive and warm fireplace, and Cait tucked her hands into her lap. Giving Annie a sideways glance, she also gave her a quick nod, letting her know that she could inform her cousins of what was going on in their lives at the moment.

“We’ve a mystery to solve,” Annie declared.

Vasilisa smiled then, resembling that of a cat, and leaned back upon the couch, twisting a strand of her thick and beautiful strawberry-blonde hair around her long, tapered finger. “And, I suppose, that’s why you came to us, malen’kiy cousin?” she queried, her green eyes flashing with intelligence.

Branimir smiled openly at Annie; his head, like Viktor’s, was shaved, and he had the same dark brown hair the Krum men appeared to be blessed with. “Leave her alone, Lisa,” he told his sister, flashing her a look with his brown eyes, which clearly said, ‘knock it off’. “We’d be only too glad to help, konfetka. What can we do?”

Annie worried her lower lip for a moment before she finally spoke. “We need to find out who Cait really is,” she whispered.

Vasilisa looked shocked at the statement and promptly turned to look at Cait. “You don’t know who you are?” she asked.

Cait shook her head. “No. I was handed over to the foster care system upon the occasion of my birth, and there have been no records of anyone with my surname matching what little information I have managed to track down.”

“She can’t be a Muggleborn,” Vasilisa said, leaning back and closer to Branimir. “Karkaroff would never have granted her admission here otherwise...” Vasilisa appeared disgusted that Blood Status would be a determent for admittance, and Cait realized that Vasilisa seemed to be quite loyal to her mother.

“Well, the process of elimination can formally begin, then,” Branimir said, squeezing Vasilisa’s arm for a moment in comfort before turning back towards Cait and Annie.

“I know I’m a Pureblood,” Cait supplied in what she hoped would be a helpful manner. “I mean, when the headmaster first met me, he told me so.”

“He’s always been able to see right into someone’s magical core,” Vasilisa said, staring into the fireplace, her expression appearing lost. “He likes to weed out the unlikelies from attending Durmstrang... Almost didn’t let me in, and I’m a Half-Blood.”

“You know good and well that he would have let you in,” Branimir said.

Vasilisa turned and looked at her twin, and something seemed to pass between them, something unspoken, which caused Branimir to clench his jaw. “He always needs someone,” she whispered, before the look of devastation was wiped off her face, and she turned back towards her cousin and her aunt and uncle’s ward. “What can we do?”

“Research,” Annie said softly, obviously disturbed by her cousins display. “As much as you can handle or stand. Perhaps the Wizarding Library in Durm Selo could be of help to you.”

Branimir nodded at Annie’s thinking. “Our next trip down there is in two weeks. We could write down what we know until then.”

“And what we don’t,” Cait said, trying not to get caught staring at Vasilisa, but knew full well that there was something underlying between the twins, but she couldn’t pinpoint what. “I always seemed to meet with dead-ends...”

“What brought this on?” Vasilisa wanted to know, looking between the girls. “I mean, we’ve all been here for weeks. You didn’t introduce us to Cait...”

“Sorry about that,” Annie apologized. “I wanted to keep you safe, you know that.”

“Family is everything,” Branimir assured her. “Now, tell us, what brought this on tonight, of all nights?” he questioned.

“Professor Gushtanov,” Cait replied.

Vasilisa laughed aloud. “Catch him with Sir Skovgaard yet?”

Cait blinked. “Oh... No,” she said.

Branimir looked at his sister in a scolding manner for a moment before turning back to Cait and Annie. “It’s odd that homosexuality is tolerated at Durmstrang, but Muggleborns are not... No matter,” he said with a sigh. “What did you give him?”

“A demonstration,” Annie said, crossing her arms before turning back to Cait. “I didn’t want to frighten you, Cait, but I think he Compelled you.”

Cait’s jaw dropped. “You’re not serious?”

“What’s going on?” Vasilisa asked.

“Cait is Hydrokinetic,” Annie said softly, looking at her cousin.

Vasilisa shook her head. “That would do it,” she allowed. “Everyone knows that there’s at least one professor at a school who would do anything to get ahead.”

Cait bit her lip. “You really think so?”

Branimir nodded emphatically. “My Galleons are on Gushtanov, no question.”

Cait sighed, massaging her temples. “When will this end?”

“It won’t,” Annie said simply. “Not until it’s formally begun.”


	3. A Stitch in Time

Cait was told not to worry by Annie, Branimir, and Vasilisa when Professor Gushtanov and Sir Skovgaard had yet to find any information about her family. Shrugging it off, she waited with great anticipation with Annie for the verdict from the Wizarding Library in Durm Selo’s genealogy section. However, both girls were met with disappointment when the twins returned to the castle, and regretfully informed them that they’d found nothing. Branimir was left to explain while Vasilisa left to attend a meeting, although she did not go into further detail about it, which worried Cait.

Things were quiet around the school for the next several weeks, with many of the students talking about Thanksgiving, which was due to be celebrated at the end of November. Annie was quick to inform Cait that Vlad, Lina, and Viktor had arranged to come for the event. Cait knew that Vlad’s dedication to the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic’s Department of Magical Law Enforcement ran deep; he was a senior Auror, but he seldom took vacation time, except for a handful of weeks in the summer, and two weeks for Christmas. As time went on and Thanksgiving drew closer still, Branimir told Annie and Cait that he would personally check out the Wizarding Library in Varna, where he, Vasilisa, and their mother lived.

Thanksgiving arrived, with Vasilisa appearing more pale and drawn than ever, and Cait couldn’t help but think it had to do with the fact that she was forbidden from meeting with her uncle, aunt, and cousin on the day of celebrations. With her mother’s Muggleborn status, Anastasia was not permitted upon Durmstrang’s campus at all, but her letters were. As Cait and Annie left the common room, dressed in the new brown dresses that Lina had sent for them to wear that day, Cait noticed Vasilisa sitting at the frozen-looking window, clutching at a crumpled letter in one hand, and blotting her tear-stained eyes with a handkerchief with the other.

Attempting and failing to push the thoughts of empathy from her mind, Cait allowed herself to be guided downstairs to the Stolovaya, where Vlad, Lina, and Viktor would be waiting. Upon Cait and Annie’s arrival, they were immediately surrounded by Lina who let out a squeal and yanked them into her arms. She praised their braid work, which they had spent nearly two hours on earlier that day, as Vlad kissed their foreheads, radiating with pride. Viktor bowed to Annie and to Cait, before they managed to find the small circular table set out for them, and slipped into the seats provided.

“And how have the first two and a half months been, girls?” Lina asked, eyes glowing, as she looked from Annie to Cait and back again.

“Cait is just wonderful at Magical Theory and charms!” Annie praised with a large grin in Cait’s direction, while Cait gave a faint smile at the praise and painstakingly placed her white napkin down onto her lap. “She’s gotten Doblest so many House points with her answers. I’m convinced she’s reading ahead in our lessons,” Annie with on with a twitter.

“And how about you, darling?” Vlad asked.

“I love potions—Professor Massialot certainly knows what she’s talking about,” Annie went on, pausing only briefly to take a sip of her Gillywater. “We brewed Forgetfulness Potion just last week, and Professor Massialot said it was the perfect shade of orange that she had ever seen. She even thinks that I should do my GHOULs and DRAGONs early, depending on my progress both in second and third-year.”

Viktor, watching his elder sister, asked, “How is Sir Alder as an instructor?”

“Fine, if you’re asking me,” Annie replied, “but he should really have his head examined at the end of all things. Too many Bludgers hitting him...”

“Anna Maria Krum!” Lina cried out, shocked at her daughter’s words.

“Sorry, Máyka, but it’s true,” Annie told her mother emphatically. “If you’d only seen how well Cait commanded her broom that first day...” She shook her head. “If you ask me, she should have been made Chaser, not merely the reserve.”

“I think it was a good idea to give me the role,” Cait said softly, speaking for the first time, and all eyes immediately turned to her.

“What do you mean, Cait?” Vlad asked.

“She’s just being modest,” Annie said quickly.

“Let Cait speak, darling,” Lina put in, before turning back to look at her foster daughter. “Go ahead, dear.”

“Well, I’m only a first-year, and although I’ve been to boarding school before, the whole magic thing is still relatively knew to me, in a structural sense,” she said quietly. “I mean, perhaps my dedication to the house team would distract me from my studies, if I were not a reserve player, and then I wouldn’t be able to play at all. That way, I’d be letting down the whole team. And this way, I’m not booting anyone off the team that was previously slated to be on there, and I can focus on my studies until I really get the hang of all this.”

“That’s quite forthright of you, Cait. I’m very proud of you,” Vlad said, his dark eyes gleaming as he beamed down at her.

“The team would be better if Cait was a member,” Annie said quietly, slouching in her seat and crossing her arms.

“Now, now, darling,” Lina said firmly, raising her eyebrows at Annie’s lack of posture, which caused her to straighten up directly, “I happen to think that Cait knows best in this situation, as it is connected directly with her and her studies. I’ll bet if she tries out for the team next year, and keeps on practicing and managing her schedule accordingly, she’ll be a permanent member, if she so chooses.”

Cait smiled at Lina, relieved to have some support. Between managing her class schedule, giving Branimir and Vasilisa as much information as she could about her background, fending off Professor Gushtanov’s own questions, and listening to Annie’s bemoaning about the subject they were currently entangled in, it was nice to take a breath. Looking up as the rest of the families came into the Stolovaya and found their assigned seats, Headmaster Karkaroff approached his podium and smiled at the collected students and their families.

“Welcome to this Thanksgiving,” he said. “I do hope you love the meals, and that you spend the allotted three hours catching up with your family and loved ones. Enjoy.” Clapping his hands, the Headmaster of Durmstrang smiled as the tables filled with platters of all shapes and sizes, and the scents of various dinners filtered throughout the room as he moved to sit between Professors Vulchanova and Reeves, whom he seemed to be closest to on the staff, given that they made up half of the Heads of Houses.

“Let’s dig in!” Viktor said enthusiastically, and Vlad smiled down at his son, before taking out his wand and levitating the various pieces of food, before he set to work in dispersing the main course of a large roasted chicken.

“I still think that you would have done well on the team,” Annie whispered to Cait, as Vlad continued serving, and Lina pointed out various things throughout the Stolovaya to show to a clearly-impressed Viktor, especially when Sir Alder was shown to him, up at the Head Table, much to his excitement.

Cait sighed, nodding in thanks to Vlad when he bestowed one of the legs of the massive roasted chicken onto her plate. “Perhaps,” she said, and smiled slightly at Annie. “However, I spent much of my life wanting to fly away. Now, I find I want to see all the opportunities afforded to me upon the ground.”

. . .

The second Friday in December brought the train into the station at the edge of the Durmstrang campus, and Cait and Annie were passengers upon it to return to the train station in Sofia to return to the Krum residence for the Christmas holidays. Cait and Annie had utilized the owl order catalogue from Durm Selo’s wizarding shops, and had bought perfect gifts for everyone, including Branimir and Vasilisa, who rode the train home with them. The Krum cousins even agreed to pick up some of the gifts on Cait and Annie’s behalf that couldn’t be delivered to the school in person, and all the gifts were wrapped accordingly and placed carefully into their trunks with ample Cushioning Charms as needed.

“Looking forward to the holiday?” Branimir asked, the question directed at Cait and Annie, for it was likely that he already knew his twin sister’s feelings on the matter.

“Oh, I should think so,” Annie replied with a smile. “Viktor’s been bombarding Cait and me with letters about Sir Alder.”

“Sounds like Viktor,” Vasilisa said, smiling at Annie. “How are your parents dealing with his flying, now that your tatko is back at the ministry?”

“Tatko loves being an Auror, but he much enjoys fatherhood, according to Máyka,” Annie said, straightening up a bit as she addressed Vasilisa. “As for Viktor, Máyka has been running herself ragged to keep him safe.” Annie’s forehead puckered. “I’m just sorry that you don’t get the barony, Bran...”

Branimir smiled at Annie and shook his head. “Because of Dyado Dragomir’s inability to marry Baba Ioana, both Tatko and I are therefore ineligible, making Viktor the only heir that is seen to be proper.”

“Well, rest assured when this is all over and done with, Viktor and I will make sure that you’re all taken care of. Cait, too,” Annie said quickly.

Cait looked up at the mention of her name. “Of course,” she told them both with a quick smile. “I know what it is like to have nothing at all.”

“Yet now you have something,” Vasilisa said, cutting across Cait firmly. “Don’t waste it, Cait, this opportunity you’ve been given.”

Cait’s eyes widened as she looked across the train compartment at Vasilisa. “I don’t intend to waste anything,” she said quietly.

“See that you don’t,” Vasilisa warned her. “The last thing you need is to get mixed up with bad people, poisoning your mind, and making their actions your fault.”

Cait swallowed, shrinking back into her chair, and Annie quickly took her hand and proceeded to attempt to change the subject with the fantastical traditions for Christmas that the Krum family partook in—something about Christmas crackers, she was sure. Cait did her best to listen, but it was difficult to do so, what with Vasilisa’s haunting green eyes staring out the train window. Cait noticed that Vasilisa appeared to be lost, and was definitely hiding something, but she couldn’t point the finger as to what that was.

Once they arrived at the station in Sofia, now changed into Muggle jeans and sweaters, the four of them quickly gathered the rest of their things, wrapping themselves within their winter coats and setting about to meet their trunks outside with their parents. Cait quickly moved to follow Annie, feeling Vasilisa’s eyes upon her back as she did so, a lump slowly but surely rising in her throat as they made their way towards the trains’ doors. Once outside and onto the platform, Cait spotted Vlad and Lina, who were standing with a lovely woman close to Lina’s height, who Cait guessed to be Anastasia, Branimir and Vasilisa’s mother.

“Darlings!” Lina squealed, suddenly charging forward and wrapping both Annie and Cait into her arms, kissing both their cheeks before examining them with her engaging dark eyes. “How was your journey?”

“Fine, Máyka,” Annie assured her, before turning towards her father, who caught her up immediately into his arms.

“Zdraveĭ, moyata printsesa,” he said fondly to her, pressing a kiss to her forehead, before he set her down and pulled Cait into an embrace as well. “Zdraveĭ, moyata perla,” he said fondly, and Cait permitted herself to be hugged, and found that she liked the nickname of “pearl” in Bulgarian, which had begun during their letters when she had gone to Durmstrang.

Lina then gently took ahold of both Annie and Cait’s shoulders, guiding them around two feet away, where Anastasia stood, speaking to her children. “Ana,” Lina said softly, and the woman turned her honeyed-hazel eyes towards her sister-in-law.

“Ah, my dear Annie,” she said, her voice heavy with a French accent, as Annie darted forward and embraced her aunt. “And you must be Cait,” Anastasia said fondly, once Annie had released her, and put out her elegant hand. “Pleasure to finally meet you.”

Cait smiled and took the offered hand, shaking it. “The pleasure is mine, Anastasia,” she said kindly, looking her over.

Anastasia had given her full lips and eyebrows to Vasilisa, as well as her hair and nose to Branimir, but, otherwise, she looked completely different from her children. She had caramel-colored skin, due to her mother’s roots in India, but it was slightly lighter than usual, because of her father’s French and Russian blood. “She is as polite as you stated in your letters, my dears,” said Anastasia fondly, before turning to look back at her children for a moment, and then turned her gaze back towards Lina. “Terribly sorry to cut this short, but our Portkey to Biert is due to leave in less than ten minutes.”

“Of course,” Vlad said, stepping forward and kissing her fondly on the cheek; according to Annie, Vlad had always adored Anastasia, taking her under his wing and treating her as his sister and protecting her as much as he was able. “And if the three of you need anything...”

“We’ll Floo you, of course,” Anastasia said with a smile, before waving goodbye to Lina, Annie, and Cait, before turning towards her children. “Come along, dears,” she said, as their trunks materialized beside them, and Anastasia made quick work of shrinking them down, allowing Vasilisa and Branimir to pocket them. “Best get a move on.”

Cait watched as Anastasia, Branimir, and Vasilisa walked away, only distracted by Vlad handing over her shrunken trunk, which she hastily moved to pocket. “Thank you,” she said softly, and forced a smile to her lips.

Once the four of them had gone through the barrier, they somehow managed to blend in with the Muggles around them, until such a time as they could meander into a back alleyway, so as to Apparate back to the Krum residence. When they arrived, not without the tug behind each of their respective navels, Annie and Cait all but toppled down onto the floor of the living room, which left Vlad and Lina to help them up, as Viktor and Tessy immediately ran inside to see what had happened. It was with an almighty squeal that Tessy scampered forward, throwing herself at both Annie and Cait’s knees, cheering that her young mistresses were, at last, home again, and what could she make them for a snack?

Cait and Annie giggled at the attention, and merely requested some sour cream doughnuts and some strawberry compote, at which Tessy squealed that she had just the thing, and, after taking both their unshrunk trunks, popped out of the living room. Shaking their heads, Cait and Annie took out the treats they had gotten for Viktor on the train, and he was equally delighted that both girls had remembered, while Vlad and Lina looked on indulgently.

Lina then stepped forward, summoning all their winter coats off of them and hanging them on the pegs beside the front door. Thinking quickly, she deduced that they had no planned visitors for the next few days, at the very least, and so she charmed the fire to be warm and welcoming for the girls’ homecoming. As she did these tasks, Vlad told the girls that he and Viktor had been awaiting their homecoming to get the Christmas tree in the woods surrounding the house, and had left off the decorating as well.

“You only left it off because you’re hopeless, Tatko,” Annie stated cheekily.

“You little dyavolche!” Vlad said, all smiles, and charged after Annie as she promptly skirted away from him, out of his reach.

They had a leisurely rest their first day back at Krum Krepost, sharing stories of their new professors, Vlad’s fellow Aurors and the details of cases he was permitted to share with his family, Lina’s preparations for the holidays ahead, and Viktor’s exploits on the family’s brooms upon their wide expansion of land. They went to bed after a hearty dinner of roast chicken and potatoes, Cait’s favorite, and were roused early the following morning, so as the girls, Vlad, and Viktor could head out to get the Christmas tree, while Lina and Tessy prepared a fine breakfast feast in anticipation for their return.

Stepping outside in their winter coats, snow boots, scarves, gloves, hats for Vlad and Viktor and rabbit fur earmuffs for Annie and Cait, the foursome made quick work of trekking through the snow around them. Cait, once she had realized that the Bulgarian Ministry wouldn’t come down on her for using her powers in a safe environment, managed to clear a decent-sized path for them to walk, continuing to clear it every few feet or so, so as to ensure that they would have a quick way to get home afterwards. Once they reached the edge of the forest, Vlad keeping a good grip upon his wand and an ax, told the children to scatter, but not go too far, in pursuit of the perfect Christmas tree for their impressive living room cum parlor.

Viktor went off in one direction, while Annie grabbed Cait’s hand and pulled her off in the opposite route, knowing that her father would want as much ground covered as possible. It was only about forty degrees out at the moment that morning, but temperatures would be steadily dropping once mid-afternoon came, and they had a breakfast feast being prepared for them back at home. While Warming and Stasis Charms existed for a reason, Annie had noticed that Cait much preferred her food to be fresh, so they had a plethora of reasons to hurry along.

Once the perfect tree had been found, Vlad set to work with various Cutting Spells and the ax in order to cut it down as quickly and painstakingly as possible. He then levitated it back towards the house, with Viktor, Annie, and Cait running on ahead, Cait using her hands to make sure the path was still cleared for them. They reached the house in record time, stamping their feet upon the back porch to ensure they didn’t track snow into the house, and let themselves in, while Lina looked on indulgently, banishing their outer layers to their respective pegs, and exclaimed happily when she caught side of Vlad, banishing the tree into its stand.

“Vlad, it’s beautiful!” she cried, dashing towards her husband and kissing him deeply for all to see, with Viktor, Annie, and Cait looking away in embarrassment.

The family left the tree in the living room to head into the kitchen, where Tessy was putting the finishing touches upon the breakfast table. “Mistress Lina and Tessy saw Master Vlad, Young Master Viktor, Young Mistress Anna, and Young Mistress Catherina coming!” the little house-elf squeaked, clasping her gray hands together, watching as her masters and mistresses moved into their chairs. “Can Tessy get anyone anything else?”

“No, thank you, Tessy,” Lina said indulgently, caressing the smooth head of their attendant with a smile at her.

“I do hope you’ve had your breakfast, too, Tessy?” Vlad enquired, spreading his napkin in his lap and looking down at the elf.

“Yes, Master Vlad, Tessy has had her breakfast,” the elf assured him. “Tessy will now tidy up the snow boots and bring down the Christmas decorations before seeing to the rest of her chores,” she declared, before popping outside and doing just that.

Viktor stabbed a sausage with approval and began cutting into it, smiling as the steam wafted into his nose. “Tessy always makes a good breakfast,” he declared.

Once their breakfast was finished and Tessy began using her magic to clear the table and wash the dishes, the five of them trooped into the living room to see to the tree and other forms of Christmas decorating. Cait hung back for a few moments, watching as Vlad untangled the lights with magic, Lina began selecting garlands for the tree and fireplace, Annie took out various nativity scenes to disperse throughout the house, and Viktor found the Christmas Quidditch decorations that seemed to be a favorite with him. It was only when Lina turned to Cait and saw her not participating that she smiled at her and stepped closer.

“Would you like to help me pick out garlands, darling?” she asked.

Cait blinked, but smiled readily at the inclusion. “Yes, please.”

Once the lights and garlands were on the tree, Viktor and Annie proceeded to find various ornaments and exclaimed at finding ones that were favorites of theirs. Cait didn’t notice Vlad and Lina looking at one another with quick smiles as Cait was invited to join the siblings in putting the ornaments onto the tree, but the left out feeling started all over again when Annie unearthed their Christmas stockings. There was even one for Tessy. Cait forced a smile onto her lips, trying not to cry; for a few precious moments, she had felt like one of the family, but perhaps that was not the case.

It was then that Cait felt her shoulder being squeezed and, upon turning around, her jaw dropped at what she saw Lina holding. “What...? What...?” was all she managed to get out.

“I made it myself,” Lina declared, handing over the red stocking she held, which was clearly velvet, with rabbit fur at its top. There was an impressive stitching of Santa Claus on its body, with a Christmas tree in the background, surrounded by a plethora of wrapped gifts. “Do you like it?” Lina asked, noticing that Cait hadn’t said anything.

Cait, finding she could say nothing to convey her feelings, launched herself forward and threw her arms around Lina, and proceeded sobbing into her shoulder. She was barely aware of Vlad considerately taking Annie and Viktor out into the kitchen, while Lina held Cait against her. “I... I’m sorry,” Cait said, pulling back after a moment, and saw the state of the stocking, which was wet with her tears and slightly rumpled. “Oh, Merlin, I’ve ruined it...”

“You’ve done no such thing, darling,” Lina declared, easily remedying the situation by using a Drying Charm and Anti-Wrinkle Spell on the piece, which looked as good as new after the treatment. “Now, then. Do you like it?”

“I love it,” Cait said, moving to dash the tears from her eyes, but Lina stepped forward and did it for her with a smile.

“You all right?” Lina asked softly.

Cait nodded her head. “I... I guess it really drives the point home, you know? I mean, I guess a stocking is... Well, I feel like you’re not going to give me away anytime soon...”

Lina shook her head then, this time pulling Cait into her arms. “Never. Vlad and I swore to Igor that we would keep you as soon as you finished at Durmstrang, but this will be your home for as long as you want or need it, darling. We promise.”

. . .

The Krum’s seaside cottage in Varna was more of a villa of Cait had ever seen one, so when they arrived there on their first day of the summer holidays, Cait was in for quite a shock. It had an impressive seaside view, and was one of the larger properties along the sand, and was, according to Annie, the envy of many neighbors. As they stood outside, waiting for Vlad to complete getting the trunks out of the boot of their hired car, Viktor was already scoping out places to fly, and Annie to read some transfiguration texts she’d brought, while Cait merely stood by, stroking a Turkish Angora cat with bright green eyes, which she had gotten as a Christmas present six months previously, whom she had named Venera.

Venera, although a Muggle breed of cat, was purchased from a magical breeder, and so she would have two times the agility of a normal cat; with this came an extended lifespan and better health than your average cat, meaning that they wouldn’t be affected by typical diseases, and her lifespan was adjudged to be around thirty years, as opposed to twelve to eighteen. Venera squirmed slightly then, and, as Cait gently loosened her grip, the cat permitted herself access to Cait’s shoulders, where she frequently had been during the weekends, and before and after class time while at Durmstrang. As she was a cat, she was on the pre-approved list of animal companions, and had done exceptionally well there.

Annie approached and stood beside Cait, reaching out and petting Venera for a moment before she followed her gaze to the impressive Krum summer property. “Tatko proposed to Máyka on this very beach,” she said softly.

Cait turned and looked at Annie. “I thought you told me that when Lina threw over Professor Gushtanov that she and Vlad were betrothed by their parents.”

“I did say that, because it’s true,” Annie told Cait with a smile. “But Tatko still proposed to Máyka, because he saw it as the romantic thing to do.”

Vlad got everyone to help with the unloading of the hired car, and they all trooped into the house, which Cait was becoming more and more amazed by with each passing minute. Vlad told Annie to show Cait to her room, and Cait could already smell dinner, which Tessy—who had arrived earlier that afternoon—was cooking in the kitchen beyond. Heading up the staircase after Viktor, Annie showed Cait around, letting her know that each bedroom came with a wardrobe and attached bathroom, just like at home. There were double doors at one end of the corridor, which Annie told Cait was the master suite where Vlad and Lina slept, while she, Viktor, and Cait would have the three medium-sized bedrooms all along the opposite side of the floor. Cait didn’t mind, knowing that Venera would want to go exploring as soon as possible.

Once Annie had showed Cait to her room, Cait managed to lug her trunk inside and Venera jumped down, climbing onto the highest shelf and staring out the window and at the expanse of her mistress’s new bedroom. Cait smiled at her cat’s antics, and proceeded to put her clothes into her wardrobe, before checking out the rest of the bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom was done up in cherry wood and white marble, and had a gigantic detached shower, and a sunken bathtub which featured tiles around it, and was built up against a wall with a massive window behind it. There was also a two-person counter, a loo and bidet, and a door just opposite the bathtub, which led out onto a private balcony, with a gated staircase down to the rose garden, which led directly to the beach.

Cait was pleased with her surroundings and returned to her bedroom, relaxing for a few hours until dinnertime arrived, with Tessy preparing a traditional roast with all the trimmings. The next few days involved Cait attempting to control herself, what with the magical-looking expanse of water just beyond the house, and found herself itching to literally work her magic. However, both Vlad and Lina had warned Annie, Cait, and Viktor that they were surrounded by Muggles on all sides—this served as a reminder for Annie and Viktor, who had apparently showcased accidental magic in these parts before, thus prompting the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic to come out and administer Memory Charms on the residents, who would become as unsuspecting as they had been beforehand. Cait, knowing that the ministry couldn’t be called every summer, spent a lot of her time doing her summer homework assignments with Annie, helping Tessy and Lina cook, or playing with Venera to distract herself.

At the end of their first week at the house, Vlad decided to drive into the town nearby to take his family out for dinner. They decided to go to an Italian restaurant called La Casa, and Cait had left Tessy with strict instructions on how to care for Venera while they were out. Upon arrival, they were seated at their pre-reserved table immediately, and Vlad made small talk with the staff, who complimented both him and Lina more than once on how well-behaved their children were proving to be. Cait absolutely adored Italian food, and couldn’t help but wonder if Vlad had chosen the restaurant on her behalf, but, then again, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as she, Annie, and Viktor ate mozzarella sticks before their meal.

It was throughout the next several weeks that it felt as if there were burning currants throughout her arms, hands, and fingers, causing Cait to grow concerned. Desperate, she finally requested to speak with Vlad and Lina alone, and they agreed, once Tessy had begun cleaning the house, and Annie and Viktor had run down to the beach. Cait sat in a chair in the sitting room, with Vlad and Lina sitting on a couch opposite her, in silence, waiting for her to speak.

“I think something’s wrong with me,” Cait finally said.

“Darling, you’re twelve,” Lina told her gently. “We frequently feel inadequate or something wrong with us starting in or around our teenage years.”

“Should I leave?” Vlad asked.

Cait flushed. “No, it’s nothing like that, although I am sorry for my mood swings lately. I think it’s the weather,” she said with a shrug.

“Granted, July is our warmest month,” Lina allowed, “but, Vlad, perhaps I could have a few minutes alone with Cait?”

“It has to do with my powers!” Cait burst out then, causing the various cabinets, as well as loose objects on numerous pieces of furniture, to rattle, as her magic threatened to burst through to the surface, begging to be utilized. “I feel like there’s a currant or something, humming just beneath my skin,” she explained, and Vlad and Lina looked at each other. “I’m scared. I haven’t been able to use my powers since Christmas.”

Vlad’s brows went together at that. “You haven’t been using them at school?”

Cait flushed, lowering her eyes as she shook her head, not wanting anyone to get in trouble. “I was told by Professor Gushtanov that people would use them against me if they found out. He told me not to...”

Lina placed her hand upon Vlad’s arm, squeezing it slightly, as Vlad’s temper threatened to get the better of him. “While his theory does propose merit, darling, he is merely your Dark Arts professor, and although in a position of authority over you, he is not your Head of House, or your headmaster.” Lina pursed her lips, obviously considering what to say next. “Vlad and I will personally meet with Headmaster Karkaroff and tell him of our concerns for next term, and perhaps a professor could be persuaded to tutor you in your abilities to ensure maximum safety for all involved.”

“Who is your favorite professor, perla?” Vlad asked, having calmed down some.

“Professor Vulchanova,” Cait said quickly, brightening at that.

“Ah, Magical Theory, then?” Lina asked, and Cait nodded.

“She is a brilliant teacher, and very loyal to her students. As your Head of House, as well as her areas of expertise, she is a very appropriate choice. I shall ask Headmaster Karkaroff about speaking with her about putting you under her tutelage,” Vlad said with a smile.

Cait was about to speak further, but a sudden sharp pain in her abdomen, followed by a sticky sensation in her undergarments had her afraid. She flushed, suddenly uncomfortable, and avoided both Vlad and Lina’s eyes. The furniture in the villa was positively medieval of some kind, and beautiful to look at, yet comfortable to sit upon. The last thing she wanted was potentially ruining it.

“Vlad, perhaps you can excuse yourself now,” Lina said gently, and Vlad, who didn’t need telling twice, got to his feet, and made his way outside, walking towards the beach, where Annie and Viktor could be heard screaming with delight. “Come along, dear,” Lina said, holding out her hand to Cait, who took it, muttering a “_Scourgify_,” as they moved from the room and upstairs into Cait’s bathroom. Lina dove beneath the sink, pulling out a pack of sanitary pads and handing it to Cait, before summoning a clean pair of underwear, top, and shorts from her bedroom with a quick smile. “Why don’t you wash off in the shower, dear, and I’ll be waiting to speak to you, all right?”

Cait nodded jerkily, waiting for Lina to leave the bathroom and shut the door behind her. With a flushed face, she moved about, quickly undressing and getting into the shower, cleaning herself up quickly and expertly, before stepping out again and getting dressed. Looking at the indicator on the pack of sanitary pads, she managed to figure out how to put one on, and washed her hands, before tidying up completely in the bathroom and stepping out into her bedroom. Looking up, Lina smiled at her and handed her a Pain Potion, which she quickly drank, and the cramps in her abdomen thankfully subsided.

“You understand what happened, don’t you, dear?” Lina asked.

Cait sighed, nibbling her lower lip. “I think so,” she replied, hunching her shoulders. “That is... It was my period, right?”

Lina tried not go giggle at how diplomatic Cait was being about the whole thing. “Well, yes, dear,” she told her, reaching out and taking her hand. “Essentially, the old saying goes that you’ve become a woman.”

Cait shook her head. “How can I be a woman, while I’m still a child?”

“As I said, it’s just an old saying, dear,” Lina explained. “Every month for a few days at a time, you’ll bleed like this. As such, your body is telling you that you can have children. However, it would be extremely dangerous for you to do so...”

“I’m not ready for that!” Cait cried out, her heart hammering in her chest. “I don’t even know if I want kids!”

Lina ran her hands down Cait’s shoulders. “Calm down, dear. I didn’t mean to frighten you. All I was saying is that it would be dangerous for your health, as your body hasn’t finished growing to completion yet. It would be both harmful for you, and any child you were to become pregnant with, for both your health’s.”

Cait nodded, finally understanding. “What else does it mean?”

“Well, you could have problems with acne, but, given your diet, in which you don’t over-indulge in sweets or greasy foods, it likely won’t be a problem. It also has to do with you keeping your skin in check—you don’t get too much sun, or use things that could potentially irritate it.” Lina smiled at her. “On a happy, or not-so-happy note, you will also develop breasts.”

Cait bit her lip and turned sideways. “I think they’re already developing,” she said, flushing as she recalled her chest rounding just a few weeks before term had ended. “I’m just afraid of what the boys will do and say...”

Lina smiled at Cait. “A lot of them will stare, I’m afraid,” she replied, shaking her head. “And a lot of them will likely say things that are inappropriate. If anyone says anything you don’t like, tell a professor immediately. That kind of behavior isn’t tolerated at Durmstrang, dear, and they will be held accountable.”

Cait sighed, feeling somewhat comforted as Venera decided at that moment to crawl onto her lap, and Cait stroked her, feeling her worries leaving her. “Guess this is going to take some getting used-to,” she said nervously.

Lina nodded. “It’s an adjustment, but one all women have to deal with. We’ll make sure that you’ve got everything you need, dear, and, if need be, do see Madam Farnham if you find yourself in need of more products or a Pain Potion.”

Cait raised her eyebrows. “She’s authorized to help?”

Lina smiled. “Well, she is the school matron, dear.”

Cait bit her lip again with a shrug. “Well, I didn’t have to see her the last two terms. I only passed the infirmary a handful of times...”

“Well, rest assured you’ll be meeting her properly soon enough,” Lina replied, taking Cait’s hand and squeezing it.

. . .

The first term of second-year had begun without a hitch, especially when Professor Vulchanova informed Cait that she would be taking her for private lessons starting in October. Cait was a little nervous about the prospect of these lessons; although her Head of House was her favorite professor, Cait still found herself haunted by Professor Gushtanov’s words. If word got out, especially into the wrong hands, about her powers, would she truly be safe?

Cait resolved to keep her head down, not speak unless directly spoken to or commanded to do so, and continue in her wave of extra studying, reading, and turning in her assignments on time. The studying sessions with Annie truly helped, and while she was good at potions, transfiguration was difficult for her, as were charms for Annie. The girls resolved to help one another as the weeks went by and term continued, and Cait attempted to put out of her mind the fact that Vasilisa looked more and more like a shadow of her former self.

On the final Saturday in September, Cait was up early, getting on her Quidditch practice garb, with Annie bouncing on the soles of her feet beside her. Cait flashed her a smile, and rolled her eyes indulgently when Annie moved forward to smooth down the uniform. Cait knew what she was doing; she was on a mission, one which nobody could potentially stop.

“I’m so excited!” Annie squealed, yanking Cait out the door of the dormitory and pulling her down the staircase, and into the common room. “Come on, come on!” she called out to Malvina, Teodora and Tamara, Veta, Branimir, and Vasilisa, who promptly dropped what they were all doing, and dashed after them.

They all ran out of the common room and made for the main staircase, which would take them to the entrance of the school. Upon arrival, they dashed outside, the nippy autumn air lost on them as they made their way down to the Quidditch Pitch. Once there, Annie gave Cait a hug for luck as she, Malvina, Teodora, Tamara, Veta, Branimir, and Vasilisa trooped up the stairs to the benches, reserved for spectators, as Cait walked onto the field. She smiled at the sixth-year Quidditch captain, Nikolina Daskalov, who nodded at Cait, her dark eyes friendly, and her dark hair buried within her captain’s cap.

“All right!” Nikolina called out, her check-in sheet upon its clipboard securely in her gloved hands, managing to call for silence with those two words as Cait made her way to stand within the crowd gathered. “Everyone is here, so we’ll get right to it. First team, Serban, Tarnovsky, and Orlov, you’ll play Chasers! Macedonski and Konopa—Beaters! Levitsky, I want you to be Keeper this game, and Jordanova, I want you to be my Seeker! Grab your brooms and get into the air on my whistle!” she hollered, as everyone who had been called scrambled for a broom, and got to work.

For the next four hours, Cait kept her eyes trained upon the scarlet Quaffle, almost as if it was her lifeline. She had taken some Pain Potion before the scrimmage, knowing that she didn’t want to get too battered later on. As she zoomed this way and that around the pitch, ears trained on Nikolina shouting orders for playing fair, substitutions, to go faster, and the like, she played hard in several games that day. It was a process of elimination for Nikolina, wherein she would place players in a game and weed them out; if she didn’t like you, she told you, and you were told that your playing was no longer needed.

By the end of things, Cait was exhausted, but finally went back down to earth when the game was called, and did her best not to keel over. She was covered in mud and Merlin knew what else, and she held tightly to her borrowed broom, for it was the only thing keeping her up. All of her strength was tapped out, and all she wanted to do was take a hot bath, have some roast chicken, and collapse into bed when all of this was over. Thank Merlin she still had tomorrow in which to complete the rest of her weekend homework!

Nikolina came up to each remaining player individually, and it was plain to see, based on body language and facial expressions, what the final verdict of their conversation was. Nikolina then turned towards Cait, her expression like steel as she walked with purpose towards her. Cait did her best not to gulp as the Doblest House Quidditch Captain moved to stand beside her; Nikolina was in the middle of the five-foot range, so she had a good few inches upon Cait, but Cait straightened herself up as best she could, waiting for the captain’s words.

“Congratulations, Cait,” Nikolina said after a moment, a smile overtaking her face, making her look downright beautiful. “You’re one of our new Chasers!” Nikolina clasped Cait’s shoulder then in camaraderie, and Cait forced herself not to jump up and down.

“Thank you, thank you,” she managed to get out.

“Don’t thank me, Cait. It was all you. You’ve obviously taken my and Sir Alder’s advice and practiced more, honing your talent. Doblest House is proud to have you among its ranks,” she told her, before squeezing her shoulder a final time and moving on to deliver news to another hopeful a few feet away.

Cait let out an exalted shriek before she could stop herself, banishing her borrowed broom into the attached shed where they were kept as she ran towards the benches. She looked up then and Annie was there, eyes wide, waiting for the words. “I did it! I did it!” Cait said breathlessly to her best friend. “I’m a Chaser! I did it!”

It was Annie who shrieked next, and, despite how dirty Cait was, it didn’t matter in that moment of celebration. She grabbed ahold of Cait and hugged her tightly. “This is so amazing! Wait until we tell Tatko and Máyka!”

“Annie! Your sweater!” Cait sputtered, arms flailing as she tried to pull away.

Annie scoffed. “Forget about my sweater for a moment, Cait,” she scolded gently.

“But... But Lina might...”

“How many times do we have to tell you?” Annie asked, pulling back and clutching at Cait’s shoulders. “We are your family. I hardly think a sullied sweater is going to get you kicked out of our ranks, not that anything would.”

Cait’s face flushed. “It’s... Still a lot to take in...”

Annie sighed, pulling Cait back towards her. “I know you’re still afraid of rejection,” she said quietly to her. “But don’t worry about it on our account. None of us are going to reject you. You are my sister, and there’s no changing that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured that since Hogwarts had OWLs and NEWTs and Ilvermorny had EAGLEs and HAREs, that Durmstrang likely had final examinations as well. As such, I came up with GHOULs and DRAGONs, which I've opted to stand for:  
GHOULs: Ghastly Horrendous Obligatory Ultraprecise Lectures  
DRAGONs: Dastardly Ranking and Graduation Obligational Nauseating reviews


	4. With A Little Help From My Friends

Three days after Quidditch tryouts found Cait in Professor Vulchanova’s private sitting room at Durmstrang Institute. It was done up in a color scheme involving scarlet and crimson, with medieval yet comfortable furniture, all outlined in an attractive cherry wood, with expensive-looking Turkish rugs adorning the hardwood floors. There was something Cait knew to be called a Victrola in one corner, and she was surprised that a Muggle contraption such as that one could even work there; it currently featured some 1920’s mournful jazz upon it, which had to be American, and Cait wondered if it was done for her own benefit, so as to ease her into some old music from her homeland. An old-fashioned-looking tea service seemed to suddenly appear upon the glass top table in front of the large chaise, in between that and the marble fireplace, and Cait considerately got to her feet, moving towards it to pour the tea for them both, all under Albena Vulchanova’s watchful eye.

The Magical Theory professor, who had responded in kind to Vlad’s letter the summer before, was touched that such a gifted and kind youngster such as Cait seemed to favor her so much, was delighted to take her on for private tutelage. They were to meet three times a week, on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings for the first term, and then see how Cait’s progress was. She watched as Cait carefully set down the teapot, and made her way into the room; she had only gone into her inner rooms for a moment to take off her teaching robes, and sat on a chair next to the chaise, now wearing a long dark skirt and blouse, and summoned her tea to her.

“Why don’t you tell me a bit about your extraordinary gift,” Professor Vulchanova requested of Cait with a ready smile. “I must admit, I don’t believe Durmstrang has never had any form of elemental within its walls before.”

Cait raised her eyebrows at the word, before stirring milk and sugar into her own teacup, never taking her eyes off her professor. “Elemental, professor?” she asked.

The woman, who was in the process of taking a sip of her tea, hastily returned the cup to its saucer and cleared her throat. “An elemental, Cait, is someone who has the ability to perform elemental magic—in an essence, the elements of earth, wind, fire, and water. You, as it seems, are a partial elemental, due to the fact that you can manipulate water to your liking. Unless, of course, you can manipulate another element?” she queried.

Cait shook her head. “No. Not for lack of trying, I assure you, ma’am. All my foster families in the States... Well, suffice it to say, they were all what you call Muggles, and so me performing my accidental magic—which included my water powers in an effort to get their children to like me—never went over well...”

Professor Vulchanova nodded. “Yes, I am afraid that the Statute of Secrecy was invented for this very purpose—because Muggles, or your No-Maj’s, simply could not understand the fantastic gifts that certain individuals were given. In fact, at several points in history, they made to eradicate magical beings altogether.”

Cait paused, and moved to sit back down upon the chaise. “Everyone knows about the Salem Witch Trials, of course,” she said softly, and her professor nodded. “But I’d no idea that there were more than that.”

Professor Vulchanova sighed, giving a grave nod of her head. “Oh, yes. Another was during the reign of Bloody Mary, in England, in the late-1500s. She burned upwards of three hundred Protestants, including women and children, but, what many people did not know was, that Queen Mary the First was actually in league with several Muggle groups, and agreed, with the condition of superior members converting back to Catholicism, to dispose of many magical people, under the guise of them not being willing to return to the supposed ‘true faith’...”

Cait let out a shudder, and used her wand to banish her tea cup back onto the table, suddenly no longer thirsty. “Surely, after those events, and the ones in Salem, it would all be over...”

“Alas, no, for the rule of three exists, even in the Wizarding World,” Professor Vulchanova replied in a grave tone. “The third and last execution of witches and wizards took place during the Second World War. Adolf Hitler wanted to do away with Jewish individuals; at least, that was the story that the vast majority of Muggles were given. He too agreed to exterminate several prominent wizarding families throughout the war. I tell you, Cait, not all the poor souls who were gassed were Muggles...”

Cait squirmed uncomfortably in her chair, wondering how the discussion had gone from talking about her elemental abilities to the historical atrocities that overlapped between the Wizarding World and the Muggle one. She swallowed, her fingers knotting themselves together, unknowing what to say next. Would it be entirely possible for her not to lose house points, by simply requesting that they return to her reasoning behind her private tutelage?

“Well, now, enough morbidity for the evening, I think,” came Professor Vulchanova’s voice as she banished her tea cup back onto the table, and straightened up. Conjuring a glass of water, she held it out to Cait. “Would you mind demonstrating your abilities for me, Cait?”

Cait took ahold of the glass presented to her, unknowing just where to begin as she stared into the clear depths of the water. Finally, after swallowing the lump which had arisen in her throat, she stuck out her index finger, while all the while focusing upon the water, and moved that appendage up and down slowly. The water responded immediately, and seemed to flair up at once, charging upwards from the glass and hovering in mid-air, where Cait had initially indicated for it to go.

Albena Vulchanova sat there, transfixed as Cait proceeded to continue to demonstrate her abilities to her. She could clearly tell where Petar had been coming from, when he had warned Cait about practicing her elemental abilities around potentially power-hungry individuals. While Albena Vulchanova liked the research behind power, and studying it as best she could, she was not power-hungry, something that she did not share with the Dark Arts professor, as well as Durmstrang’s headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, who seemed to almost feed from it, his dark eyes always looking for the next powerful witch or wizard to groom for what she was beginning to think were nefarious purposes.

Cait had, meanwhile, continued in the vein of swirling the water about above the glass, before putting the latter object aside. Quickly, she expanded the mere puddle of water before her and lengthened and shortened it, before getting to her feet and working it around the room in one constant wave. She could clearly feel the eyes of the Magical Theory professor upon her, but didn’t dare break her concentration. She, too remembered the words of Professor Gushtanov, as well as the hungry-looking expression that Headmaster Karkaroff had given her when they had first made the others’ acquaintance, and both things terrified her to no end.

“That’s very good, Cait,” Professor Vulchanova said, once Cait had vanished the water and moved to perch upon the couch once more. She noticed the apparent exhaustion from her and smiled indulgently, and wordlessly summoned a Zakharoza Bonbon Special Milk Chocolate Bar from her secret stash in a piece of furniture from across the room, handing it over to Cait without hesitation or prompting. Chocolate in the Wizarding World cured many ails, from a potential Dementor attack to spent magic, and Albena Vulchanova knew that Cait needed as much as the sweet treat as she could stand.

Cait chewed the chocolate methodically, the chocolate melting easily upon her tongue, its taste altogether pleasant. She enjoyed sweets in small doses, which made them all the more special to her. She believed it stemmed from her growing up for several years within the foster system, as the parents there didn’t deem her “worthy” of having excess amounts of sugar, and any other “fun” food, for that matter. Pursing her lips after she had finished half the bar, she wrapped it up slightly and set it down beside her, before looking up at her favorite professor. “May I ask you a question, madam?” she asked.

Professor Vulchanova smiled readily at Cait. “Of course, Cait. However, as a professor, I reserve the right not to answer.”

Cait nodded, knowing full well that there were things that should never be discussed between professor and student, due to the rules of propriety, which existed for a reason. “I understand,” she informed the woman, with a small smile of her own. “I just wanted to know why you agreed to take me on like this, for the private lessons.”

Professor Vulchanova nodded at Cait; she had expected a conversation like this at some point, and it was hardly surprising that Cait would want to know why. “Well, not only are you extremely gifted, Cait, but you must understand that very few witches and wizards would truly understand what you are going through.”

Cait’s fingers wrapped themselves around the finely-upholstered, scarlet couch cushion. “And are you one of those witches, ma’am?”

Cait smiled slowly. “I am.”

Cait nipped at her bottom lip, unsure of how to go about her line of questioning. “Could you prove it to me?” she asked, hoping she was not out of line.

Professor Vulchanova’s smile never wavered, and she suddenly lifted her hand up, flattening the appendage, and sticking her fingers out in all directions. Suddenly, beams of crackling light seemed to erupt from them, buzzing just beneath the surface for a moment, before she permitted them to come out, sparks shooting from them and inadvertently singeing the expensive carpet at their feet. Smiling at Cait’s obviously-impressed expression, she called back her Electrokinesis and cleaned up the singe from the carpet.

“Lightening,” Cait breathed, amazed.

“I said it had been a while since Durmstrang had had such a student,” she said softly. “It’s been a little over twenty years, I suppose.”

Cait nodded, impressed. “Well, I suppose that we can work together properly, then.”

Professor Vulchanova nodded back. “Yes, I suppose we can.”

. . .

Cait trudged back to the dormitory of Doblest House after her second week of private lessons from Professor Vulchanova. Annie, Branimir, and Vasilisa were all clamoring to know, in their own unique ways, what their discussions and lessons entailed. Of course, Annie had seen firsthand what Cait was capable of—as had their second-year roommates—but Branimir and Vasilisa were going by description alone. Sure, Cait was proud of her abilities, and was amazed at the rigorous strengthening exercises that her Magical Theory professor put her through in order to preserve her energy, but found that she wasn’t altogether sure about sharing all the nitty-gritty details with her foster sister and her cousins.

Upon entering the common room, she spotted Branimir and Annie sitting over by the fireplace, which had an impressive fire built within the hearth. Cait plopped down next to Annie upon the couch she was sitting at, bent over her copy of_ The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Two_. Her foster sister looked up at Cait and smiled, while Branimir greeted her affectionately. Cait took out her Magical Theory textbook, _Magical Theory, Grade Two_, and began leafing through the assigned chapter, which they were expected to have annotated notes, to be delivered promptly to Professor Vulchanova on Monday morning.

“Where’s Vasilisa?” Cait asked absentmindedly, removing her parchment, full of notes already, from her bag, along with her ink and quill.

“Prefect duty again,” Branimir put in, not looking up from his book, _Dark Arts of an Intermediate Nature_, by Alexei Cassowary.

Annie leaned back in her spot upon the couch, absentmindedly twiddling with the pages of her textbook. “Merlin, she’s at it a lot...”

“Looks good if you’re applying to a ministry position,” Branimir explained patiently, still looking deep into the book, almost as if he wanted to discover its secrets.

“Do you think I’d make a good prefect?” Annie wanted to know, and Cait covered her mouth in an attempt not to laugh.

“If you keep track of your studies through to your fourth-year, you’ll easily make the consideration rounds,” Branimir told her.

Annie nodded at that, before turning to look back at Cait. “We hardly ever see Vasilisa anymore because of her prefect duties, and you’re always studying, in your lessons with Vulchanova, or at Quidditch practice,” she pouted.

Cait put her thumb into her book and turned to look at her best friend and foster sister. “You know as well as I do that you were quite put-out last year when I only made reserve Chaser,” she explained diplomatically, putting her work aside as Venera made an appearance from the dorms upstairs, and climbed immediately into her mistress’s lap. “You knew that the lessons with _Professor_ Vulchanova would be a possibility since the summer, when Vlad sent the owl to the headmaster to speak to her about requesting them. And, as for my studying, I don’t have a lot of free time anymore, Annie. Nikolina is very understanding about my lessons, and gives me a grace period—likely because she’d be booted from the Quidditch team by our Magical Theory professor for giving me a hard time.”

“She said that?” Branimir asked, looking up at last.

Cait sighed, turning to look over at him. “No, but it’s the consensus around the locker room before and after practice,” she replied with a shrug. “More of rumor or speculation than straight fact at this point. Anyhow, nobody can be too careful anymore, it seems. One false move, and you’re in hot water.”

Annie shoved her book into her bag and put her hands behind her head. “I know you’ve got important obligations to your abilities and to the house team, Cait, and I’d never dispute you wanting to get good marks in class—Gushtanov could be even more of a nightmare than he already is if you didn’t,” she said softly. “It still doesn’t make missing you any easier. I mean, Teodora and Tamara have each other, and Malvina and Veta have been best friends since we all met each other last year.” She shrugged. “I guess what I’m saying here is, I’m getting lonely, because Branimir has his own set of friends at the end of things, and Vasilisa has her prefect duties and studying sessions with Branimir as they prepare for their GHOULs, due to happen at the end of second-term.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” Branimir put in, his voice bitter. Although he was an excellent student who favored History of Magic and Dark Arts, he was notoriously anxious when it came to examinations of any kind. This had been the cause of him not making prefect beside Vasilisa, whose studies came more naturally to her, much to her twin’s annoyance.

“I’m sorry you’ve been feeling lonely,” Cait put in softly.

Annie nodded. “Thank you.”

“You know, Nikolina says that people are allowed to come and watch Quidditch practices, provided that they don’t make a nuisance of themselves,” she put in, squaring her shoulders. “I mean, I don’t know, if you wanted to come once in a while, I don’t think Nikolina would find your presence objectionable.”

Annie swallowed. “I don’t want to be a burden, Cait...”

“Either take what’s on offer or just stop complaining,” Branimir said, slamming his textbook shut and gathering his things. “I’ve got a study session in the library—Ancient Runes; Professor Falk is a nightmare, so try to avoid the class at all costs,” he warned them, before he moved to slip out from the common room.

“You could never be a burden, Annie,” Cait said, slightly perturbed that Branimir hadn’t said goodbye to them, but nevertheless returned her full attention towards her foster sister and closest friend. “I’m giving to you what I can at the moment, and I apologize if it isn’t enough for you, I really do. But we’ll have plenty of time at Christmas—”

“That’s over two months away and you know it!” Annie snapped, causing Venera to pick up her head and give Annie a glare for waking her up.

Cait gritted her teeth, wanting more than anything to keep her temper with Annie. Once false move, and the Krum family could oust her, no matter what had been said. “You’re the one who told me to go out for Quidditch in the first place,” she reminded her.

“Viktor’s the real one with talent in that sport,” Annie countered.

Cait’s jaw dropped; of course, Viktor had been playing the sport for years, for he had known about his heritage much longer than Cait had. Nevertheless, Cait knew that she had to have had some talent, given that she had made the team in the first place. “Nikolina is no idiot when it comes to selection,” she said carefully. “Therefore, she must’ve seen something in my try-out maneuvers and such to permit me a place upon the team.”

“Viktor would’ve made the team on the first try,” Annie said, crossing her arms.

“I didn’t even try the first time around and you know it, as you were there,” Cait shot back. “Sir Alder recommended me for the position, and Nikolina took him up on it, because their former Chaser, Tuncay Kaplan, was a seventh-year and was worrying about his DRAGONs. As it turned out, as I’m sure you also recall, I wasn’t needed to even play at all, not that it bothered me in the slightest. And I’ll point out, once again, that you kept complaining over Thanksgiving that I hadn’t made the team, and Sir Alder had been wrong not to try harder for me to have a permanent team position.”

Annie pouted, knowing she was clearly in the wrong, but wouldn’t give up. “Be that as it may, I didn’t know that this year would mean you avoiding me.”

Cait threw up her hands, rousing Venera completely from her lap, causing the feline to become agitated and retreat upstairs to their dormitory. “There’s no winning here with you or explaining it in a way for you to understand!” she cried out. “I’ve offered a solution to you, but you’ve literally thrown it back into my face. If you don’t want to come to practices, then don’t, but stop making it seem like I don’t want to spend time with you!”

Annie’s eyes filled with tears. “You’re sure acting like it now!”

“Because it’s true!” Cait yelled back.

Annie grabbed her bag then, shoving past Cait and running up the stairs, her sobs echoing in the corridor of the staircase.

Cait sighed, leaning back against the couch, and placed her head into her hands, massaging her temples as hard as she could. She officially didn’t understand Annie at all; of course, she missed her right back, but she couldn’t understand why her closest friend seemed to want to push her away all at the same time. Shaking her head, she looked back up again, relieved that their spat hadn’t seemed to have overtly disturbed anyone else in the common room, and took out her homework and began looking it over again.

At ten o’clock, everyone had cleared out of the common room to head upstairs to their dormitories. Rules for curfew meant that you had to be in your common room by a certain point, but, on weekends, if you wanted to get some homework done, you were permitted to remain outside your dormitory until midnight. Satisfied with this rule, Cait had curled up on the couch with one of her textbooks, and was skimming the chapter needed to be read for the following week in Professor Hamilton’s class, the charms professor.

The door to the common room came open shortly thereafter, and Cait looked up, surprised to see Vasilisa all but stumbling over the threshold, looking ill. Quickly, Cait put her textbook aside and darted to her feet, catching Vasilisa before she could keel over completely. “Merlin, are you okay?” she asked, looking up at her.

Vasilisa’s eyes, which had previously been unfocussed, suddenly sharpened and looked down, spotting Cait, holding onto her. Vasilisa promptly tore herself away from her, and stumbled across the room, shaking her head. Hand trembling, she withdrew her wand from her robes, which appeared torn, and whispered, “_Reparo_,” and the seams stitched themselves together in a manner which could be described as effortless.

“Have a cat fight?” Cait asked in a humorous voice, hoping to bring light to the situation, in an effort to get Vasilisa to open up.

“What do you know?” Vasilisa spat.

Cait reeled backwards at the acidity of the young woman’s tone. “Nothing, of course,” she informed her, her voice small.

“Keep it that way,” Vasilisa said, and straightened her robes and bag.

Cait did her best to swallow the ever-growing lump within her throat. “You’ve been closing yourself off a lot lately, and keeping to yourself isn’t something that Bran or Annie seem to be used to,” she observed.

Vasilisa peered over her shoulder, her green eyes filling with fear. “You don’t know a goddamn thing about this—any of it!”

“I don’t!”

“No!” she cried out. “And nothing’s going on! By Merlin, just...”

“Lisa?” Cait tried, tentatively stepping closer to her. “Please. I know there’s something wrong here. Just... Just tell me.”

Vasilisa tore her hand away, from where Cait had reached out to touch it. “_Don’t_ touch me!” she hissed, her tone scathing.

Cait threw her hands into the air. “No problem,” she told her quickly, and took another step backwards for good measure. “But, for someone who claims there’s nothing going on, you sure seem to want to protect something...” Something clicked in Cait’s mind then, and she shook her head at the thought of it. “...or someone.”

Vasilisa’s eyes flashed with fear all over again. “You... You don’t...” She whispered, her lower lip trembling with emotion.

Cait stepped closer, knowing to proceed with caution. “No, I don’t,” she told her, her tone gentle and compassionate. “But I want to help, all the same.”

Vasilisa’s expression turned almost murderous then, and she yanked herself even further away from Cait. “No one can help me because no one really knows me!” she shrieked, before she turned on her heel and went crashing up the stairs to the fifth-year girls’ dorm.

Cait silently crossed the room towards her things, picking up her charms textbook, which had been tossed to the floor when she had gone to Vasilisa’s rescue. “No one knows her because she won’t permit herself to be known,” Cait murmured to herself, and shook her head. “Perhaps she and I are more alike than I ever imagined...”

. . .

In the wake of avoiding the goblins at Durmstrang on Halloween—solo this year, as Annie had made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t speaking to Cait—Cait did her best to keep her head down for the next month. Professor Gushtanov’s obligatory statements towards her on a bi-weekly basis, informing her that no information had been forthcoming about her family background, were quickly growing tiresome. Then there were the stares that the headmaster was giving her at mealtimes, or on the rare occasion when he could be pulled away from meetings to watch Doblest House practicing for the first match of the season. Cait tried not to dwell too much upon it, and, on a rare Thursday when she had a meeting with Professor Vulchanova, she stumbled back into the common room for the night, only to be greeted by exalted shouts from each and every direction.

Cait let out a momentary shriek and immediately drew her wand, promptly lowering it when she saw Vlad, Lina, Viktor, Tessy, Malvina, Teodora, Tamara, Veta, Branimir, Vasilisa, Annie, Verena, and many other students who had made an impression upon her during her first two years of attending Durmstrang. Once her wand was lowered and returned to its holster, Lina sprang into action, coming forward with the elegance of a dancer, and threw her arms around Cait. Cait was then passed around to every guest, although the hug she received from Vasilisa was notably cold, she said and did nothing about it.

“Happy Birthday, darling,” Lina said, squeezing her one last time.

She was then pulled into the center of the common room—which she noticed had been done up with pink silk ribbons as decorations—where, placed upon the coffee table, were all her favorites, which she guessed Tessy had made. After squeezing the house-elf’s hand and thanking her, which directly caused Tessy to squeal with delight, Cait noticed a sizeable and colorful stack of gifts beside the table. Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it, she let out a small sigh and permitted Verena into her lap.

“Are you all right, perla?” Vlad asked, from where he stood, behind the couch.

Cait promptly turned and looked over her shoulder at him, gently stroking Verena in an effort to calm herself down. “Yes, of course,” she said, forcing a smile onto her face. “Guess I’m just wondering when I’m going to wake up from this wonderful dream.”

Cait made sure that everyone had enough to eat before tucking into the feast herself, and easily made small talk with everyone gathered there, although Vasilisa pointedly ignored her. Pushing the thoughts of worry from her mind, she ate her fill and, once the dinner had concluded itself, Vlad lit the pink candles upon the cake, all thirteen of them. Leaning forward, Cait shut her eyes and blew them all out, simply wishing for Doblest to be victorious upon their first Quidditch match against Pronitsatelen House, a little more than a week later. Lina spelled the cake to cut itself. Once again, Cait passed around slices to everyone, pleased that Lina and Tessy had remembered her favorite—white cake with white buttercream frosting, simple yet delicious in Cait’s book. Once they’d finished, however, she was in for another surprise.

“Well now,” Vlad said, passing a Butterbeer to everyone, save for Tessy and Viktor, who each had a glass of Gillywater, “I just want to say, Happy Birthday, Cait.”

“We’re so happy to have you in our family,” Lina continued, leaning into Vlad’s side, “for the day we brought you home is the day our family became whole.”

“I know we don’t always see eye-to-eye,” Annie went on, obviously attempting to hold it all together, “but I’m glad to have you in my life.”

“I was a little reluctant to accept another sister into the fold,” Viktor continued, and everyone around them laughed, “but, we all made it work, because you’re you, Cait. Happy Birthday, and thanks for being an amazing sister.”

Cait blinked back tears in her eyes and raised her glass of Butterbeer along with everyone else, and drank it, finding that she liked it very much. It was then that Branimir managed to get some sort of stereo system working—how Cait didn’t know—and a song that Cait and Annie had loved the summer before, _Everybody Wants to Rule the World_ by Tears for Fears began pumping in its speakers. Vlad, chuckling, dimmed the lights slightly, while Lina put on some kind of disco lights, and everyone in the common room began pairing up.

Cait let out a squeak when she was pulled to her feet by Branimir and spun around the room, among the other couples. “You’re bad,” she said, and giggled.

“Nah, not really,” Branimir replied with a laugh, looking down at Cait as he pulled her closer. “I sense that there’s something you’re not telling me.”

Cait shook her head at him. “No secrets here. Honest.”

“Uh-huh,” Branimir said, not convinced at all. “Tell me, has Professor Gushtanov been bothering you again?”

Cait scoffed. “I can hardly call one in-depth conversation with the man—one which took place over a year ago now—constitutes ‘bothering’,” she replied. “And besides, it’s not like I was forced to talk to him alone.”

“No, you put yourself _and_ Annie in vulnerable positions. Totally and completely justified on your part,” Branimir replied.

Cait sighed, her arms slacking from where they hung around Branimir’s neck. “So, that’s it, then? You’re going to hate me now, too?”

“‘Too’?” Branimir asked, looking confused. “I don’t understand... Nobody hates you, Cait. I, for one, could never hate you.”

Cait laughed a little bitterly, spotting Vasilisa from over Branimir’s shoulder, glaring daggers at her without remorse. “Your sister hates me...”

“Lisa?” Branimir turned around and stared at her, and scoffed. “She needs to get over it.”

Cait swallowed and shook her head. “Get over what? She’s had an attitude with me since term started, and I don’t know why. When we said goodbye at the station at the end of term last summer, it was fine. Now, it’s like I’m a bloody acromantula or something...”

Branimir tried to hold back his laughter, but it soon became apparent that he was unable to hold it back completely. “Sorry, you’re right. The truth of the matter is, she’s letting the stress of the GHOULs get to her. That, combined with all her new prefect duties... It’s a lot for her to handle, and she’s still finding her way. Not that she should be taking it out on you, Cait. I’ll talk to her, see what I can do.”

Cait sighed. “I’m just afraid poking at the situation will potentially make it worse...”

“We’re twins, Cait,” Branimir explained in a pragmatic manner. “Nothing we do is ordinary, and, sometimes, we have to take risks.”

“Story of my life,” Cait muttered, continuing to sway to the beat of the music.

“You haven’t had a real easy time of it, have you?” Branimir asked.

Cait’s eyes flickered upwards, locking onto Branimir as the song intensified around the two of them, as well as all the other couples around them. “Not before Vlad and Lina took me in, I didn’t,” she said softly.

“I’m glad they took you in.”

Cait shook her head, biting down hard on her lower lip as the awkwardness crept up upon her, and hastily lowered her eyes. “Guess it’s easy for me to believe that. Even though we’re going through hell right now, Annie is my best friend. I know how close the two of you are, and so it makes sense that you’d be happy that your favorite cousin is happy...”

“Not just because of that.”

Cait slowly looked up then, her brows furrowing. “Yeah? Why, then?”

Branimir looked unsure of himself for a moment, before he took a tentative step forward, and gently tilted Cait’s chin upwards, and slowly lowered his head to kiss her softly on the lips. It was from the moment he pressed down slightly that Cait’s heart began pounding in her ears, and, when Branimir broke away, she stared up at him, eyes wide. Then, Branimir leaned down a second time, kissing her again, slightly deeper than he had before, but always striving to keep the action a respectful one.

It was then that the interlude ended, and a smashing of glass caused the two to hastily break apart, just in time to see Vasilisa storming out of the common room. Wringing her hands on her school uniform, Cait felt a lump slowly developing in her throat. Her face was flushed, and she couldn’t believe it had gone that far, no matter how much she’d enjoyed it...

“I’d... I’d better check on her,” Branimir said softly.

Cait’s eyes immediately flashed to his. “Yeah, of course,” she said softly, wrapping her arms around herself as Branimir hastily made for the exit, leaving immediately thereafter. Cait turned and stared at Vlad and Lina, who looked slightly amused yet worried all at once, while Viktor looked uncomfortable, and Annie...

“Oh, Merlin,” Annie said, and took off upstairs.

Cait massaged her temples again, wondering if she should take Professor Vulchanova’s advice and take up meditation to keep her mind at ease. Stepping up towards the table, still laden with the food Tessy had made, Cait figured out which glass had been hers and lifted it up. Bringing it to her lips, she took a deep drink, shuddering at all the sensations of the slightly-alcoholic drink entering her system, causing all her veins to pulsate beneath her skin in a moment of sheer disaster, not unlike anything she hadn’t experienced before. Looking up, Cait saw that, other than the music stopping, every one of her guests were staring at her, with worried being the most prominent emotion among their expressions, and it made Cait want to be sick.

“Happy Birthday to me,” Cait uttered bitterly, wondering just where the complexities would end, and when the good times would, truly, begin.

. . .

Thanksgiving arrived a week after Cait’s birthday, with the only event marring the otherwise happy day was the headmaster. As Cait and Annie found their assigned table, after having agreed to be on speaking terms again for the sake of family and the holiday, and the obligatory hugs were given, they sat in their seats and waited for the command for the food to appear to be formally given. As they waited, Cait looked around the lavishly decorated Stolovaya, and felt a pair of eyes upon her. When she turned, Headmaster Karkaroff was staring, unblinking, at her, and such a look filled her with trepidation.

After forcing herself to eat and putting it out of her mind, she vaguely listened to Vlad and Lina informing her and Annie that the three of them would be staying at The Twayblade Tavern, the lovely public house, located in the center of Durm Selo, because of the Quidditch match two days later. Cait had remembered Annie whispering to her about it, and recalled the heavily timbered and dark wood architecture, reminding her of buildings in Tudor England. The landlord and lady of the place, Desislav and Nadezhda Bakalov, were said to be an altogether pleasant couple, with three young children of their own—Radmila, Snežana, and Grigor.

Cait barely slept for the next two nights, and tried to force herself into believing that it was because she was nervous about the first Quidditch match. However, she knew all too well that she had just enough confidence in her flying abilities, as well as her quick reflexes to go after the Quaffle properly. No; the true reasoning behind her inability to sleep was a combination of two things—one, the dark gaze of Headmaster Karkaroff, and what exactly it could mean. And two, the fact that Vasilisa was now speaking to her even less since she and Branimir had kissed in the common room, and now seemed to be dating.

Cait managed to pull herself out of bed on the morning of the game, and was dead-tired, and yet was hoping beyond hope that she wouldn’t let the team down. She rushed through a shower and, just as she was getting on her uniform, she was surprised when she saw Annie hesitating beside her four-poster bed. Malvina, Teodora, Tamara, and Veta had already gone down for breakfast, after wishing Cait a hasty and well-meaning “break a broomstick”, and yet Cait found herself staring at her foster sister, surprised to see her there.

Annie sighed, quickly realizing she would have to be the one to break the ice, and cautiously stepped forward. “I was out of line.”

Cait swallowed, but nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you were.”

Annie smiled in a self-deprecating manner. “It won’t happen again, I promise.”

Cait nodded. “I know. Thank you.”

Annie reached into her pocket and handed a potion vial over to Cait. “We brewed it yesterday for our review in Professor Massialot’s class,” she said with a smile, and Cait nodded, somehow remembering that that had happened. “Here. Wouldn’t want to let the team down your first game, no matter how good you are, or how many people are cheering for you.”

Cait nodded, taking the vial of Pepperup Potion, and downing it quickly, the customary steam promptly flowing out her ears. Suddenly, things didn’t seem as bleak as they once had been, and she immediately moved to hug Annie. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“No problem,” she replied. “Just one thing.”

Cait nodded a second time, pulling back. “Tell me.”

“Maybe keep the snogging with Branimir to a minimum when you’re around me,” Annie replied with a giggle.

Cait flushed. “Y...yeah...”

Annie reached out and squeezed Cait’s shoulder. “Lisa will come around eventually. I think it’s her schedule that’s getting to her, plus the fact that she’s so protective of Bran.”

Cait nodded, straightening her uniform as Annie took the now-empty potion vial and banished it somewhere else. “I hope to Merlin you’re right.”

“You like him, don’t you?” Annie asked softly.

Cait smiled. “Yeah, I... I think I do.”

“Then don’t let anyone stop you two from being together, if it’s what you want.” Annie mulled over her thoughts for a moment. “He’s asked you, right?”

Cait blinked. “Asked me?”

“To be his girlfriend,” Annie said patiently.

Cait laughed. “Not in so many words... Just snogging here and there when we get the chance, but, thankfully, he’s not pressing me to do anything more.”

“Good,” Annie replied, throwing her arm around Cait’s shoulders as they headed out of the dormitory together. “We’re much too young for that.”

Cait and Annie walked down to breakfast, continuing to make small talk until they arrived in the bustling Stolovaya, which was the norm pre-Quidditch match. Slipping into the Doblest table, Cait flushed becomingly when Branimir excused himself from across the room, and promptly slid in beside her, kissing her temple. Cait distracted herself by putting eggs and sausages onto her plate, knowing that she would need her strength for the match that day.

“How are you feeling?” Branimir asked.

Cait sighed. “Nervous,” she admitted.

Branimir pressed her hand from beneath the table. “I know you’re going to be brilliant.”

Cait looked up at him, her eyes glowing. “Do you really think so?”

Branimir quickly ducked his head and pressed a quick kiss onto Cait’s lips. “I know so.”

Cait felt a lot better with Branimir’s support, and with a warm meal in her stomach. She said goodbye to him and to Annie before she headed out with the team to the pitch, where they all sat in the locker room beforehand and listened to a final pep talk from Nikolina. At the end of it, she encouraged them to play hard, and to do their best, but, most importantly, to have fun. Cait got onto the school-issued broomstick she’d been riding since the start of term, and made her way towards the door, which led onto the pitch, with the rest of the team.

The doors came open at the appointed time, and the entire Doblest team mounted their brooms and kicked off from the ground, hard. Once they were in the air, they faced the Pronitsatelen House Team, while Sir Alder lingered below, standing before the trunk which held the Quaffle, Bludger, and the golden Snitch. Waiting for the command, Sir Alder used _Alohomora_ to get the trunk open, and used the Summoning Charm to release the Quaffle, which flew into the air. Cait, not thinking twice, tore after it, the other five Chasers following suit.

It was a hard game, and Cait was amazed at how well Pronitsatelen House was playing in the overcast day around them all. However, she wouldn’t allow herself to appear or to be discouraged by their abilities, and permitted herself to have faith in her own. She soared through the air about mid-way through the game, catching at the Quaffle and grappling at it, as two of the opposing teams’ Chasers were hot on her tail. Spurring forward, she hurtled the Quaffle towards the goal posts, and let out an excited shriek as it went through, earning the Doblest House Team ten points for her efforts.

Finally, after the Snitch was released, Cait watched as the two Seekers, one from Doblest and one from Pronitsatelen, darted after the golden sphere. Cait’s heart was practically pounding in her ears at the sight, and she had to remember to keep ahold of her broom, so as not to go hurtling downwards and potentially hurt herself, or embarrass the team, her first game. Finally, their Seeker’s hands closed around the golden ball, and there was absolute silence for half a moment, until the stands housing Doblest began jumping up and down and cheering. Cait flew to the ground with the rest of the team, shaking hands with the opposing side, before she helped in the effort of lifting the Seeker into the air, who, in turn, held up the Snitch.

Just as they did an about-face to go into the changing room to return brooms and head inside for their dorms to change their soggy clothes, Cait felt a zap of unfamiliar magic. Turning around ever so slightly, she looked up at the staff stands, and saw Vlad, Lina, and Viktor, who were all waving at her enthusiastically, in between clapping along with the crowd. However, Cait didn’t recognize the magical pull from any of them and, slowly averting her eyes, saw the dark stare from the headmaster once more. Trepidation filled her then as she stumbled back around to head into the changing room, which is when she felt the almighty glare of Vasilisa permeating into her very soul.

. . .

The journey on the train back to Sofia was a bittersweet one, with Branimir and Cait talking a mile a minute, promising to use Branimir’s owl, Neptune, to write to each other throughout the duration of the holidays. Vasilisa was on her best behavior, if one could call it that, and stared out the train window, or spoke in choppy sentences to Annie, the entire time. Annie, for her part, had Verena in her lap, and was speaking softly to the animal, who seemed altogether pleased with the situation.

Upon arrival at the station, Branimir clutched Cait to him and kissed her, asking her to be his girlfriend on an official basis, and Cait enthusiastically accepted, although she felt the penetrating stare of Vasilisa at her reply. Resolving to put it out of her mind, Cait and Annie followed them onto the platform, with Cait clutching at Verena’s cage, which the cat would be subjected to until they arrived back home. Vlad and Lina were waiting for them, and Cait and Annie immediately ran forward and accepted their hugs, while Vlad signaled for the luggage handler which trunks belonged to who.

After a quick goodbye to everyone else, Vlad took Lina, Cait, Annie, and Verena to a safe location to Apparate, and the wizard, three witches, and familiar cracked away almost at once. It was an almost immediate journey, with them all landing in the living room, much to the delight of Viktor and Tessy. Tessy explained, as she had the year before, that all their favorite snacks were available in the kitchen, while she took ahold of their trunks and popped out of the room to put their clothes and such away. Cait let out Verena, who ran for the back door, to go for a hunt in the freshly-fallen snow.

Once the snacks were eaten, Cait was pleased when Verena returned to the house, and permitted Tessy to give her feline familiar something to eat. The pair of them went upstairs to the Krum’s lavish and extensive library, which Cait had promised herself to visit as soon as she got back. The first book she pulled off the shelves was _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch, while the second was _The Book of Charms and Spells_ by Samuel Journeaux. Both books were thick and old tomes, with yellowing pages within, and Cait brought them over to the impressive table that the library had on offer, and immediately thumbed through their respective indexes, until she found what she was looking for.

“What are you doing?”

Cait looked up, spotting Annie hovering in the doorway. “Magic,” she admitted sheepishly, and Annie immediately moved into the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

“What kind of magic?” she wanted to know, stepping closer.

Cait worried her bottom lip; Annie had been wonderful the last several weeks, and she knew it would be a show of good faith to tell her what she was really up to. “How to cast a Patronus Charm, and how to become an Animagus,” she finally admitted, hunching her shoulders. “Will the ministry find out if we use the spell?”

Annie shook her head. “No. We’ve special wards on the house, to trick up anyone listening in, so that they’ll automatically think Tatko or Máyka are the ones casting them,” she explained. She moved to stand close beside Cait, and peered into the books she’d laid out. “You’ve found them already,” she breathed, her expressive eyes hungrily eying the pages.

Cait shrugged. “Yes, I suppose I have.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?”

Cait turned and regarded Annie with surprise. “‘We?’”

“Well, of course we,” Annie told her with a small giggle. “If you’re doing this, so am I. I’m not one to be left out, you know that.”

Cait nodded, knowing how true that statement was. “All right,” she said, and both girls moved to take out their wands. “It says here we’ve got to think of a happy memory.”

Annie nodded, holding her wand tentatively in her hands. “Who should go first?”

“Do you want to?”

“Sure.” Annie squeezed her eyes shut in a moment of concentration, and slowly lifted her wand in the air. “All right. I’ve got one.”

“The incantation is _Expecto Patronum_,” Cait said in a whisper.

Annie’s dark eyes snapped open then, and she held her wand aloft, and uttered, “_Expecto Patronum_!” in a loud, clear voice, with a gleaming silver light shooting from her wand. She watched, open-mouthed, as the light began to take the shape of a European Jackal, and let out a delighted laugh at it, for the creature darted about the room for several moments, before making its way through the pane of glass of the library’s window.

“Wow,” Cait breathed.

“Your turn,” Annie said, returning her wand to its holder.

Cait swallowed, considered for a moment, and thought of Branimir, walking the hallways with her at Durmstrang, just talking, laughing, and being happy. Pleased with herself, she too held her wand aloft and uttered, “_Expecto Patronum_!” as Annie had done. No sooner had the words passed through her lips than a bolt of silvery light extracted itself from her wands’ tip, taking shape of a great cat, which Cait knew to be called a cougar. “Oh, wow!” she cried out, as the cat strutted its stuff for a moment, before it, too disappeared out the window.

“Now for the Animagus Spell,” Annie declared, and stuck out her tongue.

Cait doubled backwards, shocked at the sight of the Mandrake leaf in her mouth. “You, too?” she asked, and did the same, showing off her own.

Annie grinned. “You utilized the library’s copy of the book for a fortnight back at school, and I was a bit curious,” she informed Cait with a shrug. Reaching into her pocket, she drew out a potion vial, and whispered, “_Finite_,” thus bringing it back to its true size. “I took the liberty of making the potion, and, if I’m correct, a lightning storm should be...”

There was a crash from outside the window then, and Annie and Cait suddenly charged forward, with Verena taking the opportunity to dart beneath a rather finely-upholstered sofa. Looking up at the overcast sky, they watched in amazement as it suddenly split open, and lightening proceeded to crack its surface. Cait and Annie turned to look at one another, almost as if they couldn’t completely believe their luck.

“Are you a witch?” Cait whispered.

Annie giggled. “Last time I checked, yes.”

Cait and Annie returned to the table, which still had the books spread out upon its surface. As they peered closer, Cait stared at the incantation, and knew that they had to do it right. “Are you ready?” she asked Annie.

Annie nodded. “When you are.”

Cait watched as Annie produced two goblets from her robes and unshrunk them, and poured half the potion into each. Cait took the offered goblet and removed the leaf of the Mandrake from her mouth, watching as Annie did the same, and both girls added it to their respective potions. Cait held the potion to her lips, and whispered, “_Amato Amino Animato Animagus_,” just as a particularly fierce bout of lightening passed over the house.

“_Amato Amino Animato Animagus_,” Annie declared, holding tightly to her own goblet.

Both girls then threw their heads back, and drank deeply of the potion, shuddering slightly at its taste, and immediately gripped at the table before them as their respective knees threatened to buckle. Shaking it off and managing to straighten themselves up, lightening continued to crackle overhead and, as another violent blast passed over, both girls looked at one another, and shut their eyes in concentration. Cait felt the sensation of fur growing upon her body and, turning to Annie, she noticed that her ears had already changed, and were sticking up.

Falling to her knees, Cait transformed into a cougar, while Annie took the form of a European Jackal, just like their Patronus Charms. Cait let out an experimental roar, while Annie then proceeded to howl quite loudly. It was these noises that caused the door to come crashing open behind them, and Lina then drew back with a shriek, causing Vlad to charge up the stairs behind his wife, and took in the scene before him.

“Girls,” Vlad said, shaking his head, deducing the situation quite quickly. “_Ad hominem forma_,” he said impatiently, and both Cait and Annie were immediately standing before them. “You completed the spell?” he asked, as Lina summoned the book towards her, and raised her eyebrows at the advanced magic the girls had apparently done, all on their own.

“Yes,” Cait replied. “But don’t blame Annie. It was my idea...”

Annie scoffed. “We were in it together, Tatko,” she replied, crossing her arms. “So, if you decide that punishment is in order, you’ve got to punish us both.”

Vlad grinned at them both. “While I’m annoyed that the pair of you blatantly disregarded the rules against Underage Magic, I am quite proud that you managed to complete the spell. It is quite a useful skill to have, and not many magical beings have the patience to complete what they believe to be such an arduous ritual.”

“What’s this?” Lina asked, peering at the other book upon the table. “Vlad, it’s the Patronus Charm!” she whispered in awe.

Vlad’s eyes snapped back to the girls. “Have you completed this as well?”

Cait nodded. “Yes,” she said softly.

“Are your forms the same as your Animagi?” Vlad wanted to know.

It was Annie who nodded this time. “Yes, Tatko.”

“Very good,” Vlad said, squeezing both their shoulders. “Well, I propose that it’s high time we go and see what Tessy made for dinner, don’t you?”

. . .

Cait awoke on Christmas morning with Verena curled up at the foot of her bed. Smiling indulgently, she remembered receiving her as her large gift the previous year, and could hardly believe how much time had passed since then, and all that had happened. Shaking her head and scooting her covers aside, she fetched her dressing gown and slippers before heading out of her bedroom and down the stairs, where she could smell Tessy’s annual Christmas breakfast. She heard the collective shouts of Annie and Viktor in the living room, along with Lina’s reasoning tone, and Vlad’s indulgent replies, as she went down the corridor towards the room.

“Ah, good morning, perla,” Vlad said, stepping forward and kissing her on the forehead, before he guided her all the way into the room. “Why don’t you sit down with Annie and Viktor, and we’ll see about some gifts, shall we?”

Cait smiled. “All right, then.” Cait sat beside Annie, who hugged her, and waited for whatever was going to happen next to happen. As she sat there, she was amazed at the rather large present that Lina handed over to her, and gripped the shaft of the thing for a moment, before she looked up at both of her makeshift parents in confusion.

“We hope you like it, darling,” Lina said, as Vlad put an arm around his wife.

Cait smiled. “I’m sure I will,” she told them, and hastily unwrapped the package, which revealed a broomstick to her. “A Comet 260?” she whispered, her voice trembling.

“Now that you’re on the Doblest House Team, we thought it was high time you had a broom to call your own,” Vlad explained. “Do you like it?”

“I love it!” Cait crowed, holding onto it as she got back to her feet, and hugged both Vlad and Lina in turn. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Cait stood back then, permitting Annie to open her large gift, which turned out to be a Little Owl for her own post whom she immediately called Alida. Viktor went next, and he got the latest Quidditch merchandise that all the bookshops from here to the States had to offer. There were more gifts exchanged, with Annie and Cait handing over the various parcels for Vlad, Lina, Viktor, and Tessy, who all proclaimed that they loved them. Cait received a special brand of catnip for Verena, who almost seemed to sense it, for she came barreling out of Cait’s bedroom in order to get at it. She and Alida greeted one another, and soon were communicating in a language that only familiars could.

Lina squeezed Vlad’s hand as the last of the gifts beneath the tree had been unwrapped and sorted, before she turned and looked at the children. “Cait, we’ve discussed this at length with both Annie and Viktor, and they’re in agreement.”

Cait blinked, not fully comprehending what Lina was talking about. “I... I’m sorry,” she said after a moment. “I don’t understand.”

“Lina and I have asked Annie and Viktor how they would feel about making your living arrangements more permanent,” Vlad explained with a smile. “That means that it would be a more formal arrangement, and nobody could ever take you away from us.”

“Someone wants to take me away from you?!” Cait cried out, her heart slamming repeatedly in her breast, remembering the looks that Headmaster Karkaroff had been giving her for the last several weeks.

“Oh, no, darling, of course not,” Lina assured her, moving to stand beside her, crouched down, and squeezed her shoulder. “Nobody’s taking you away, I swear it.”

“Then... Then what...?” Cait asked, floundering now.

“We went to the ministry and petitioned them for parental rights for you, perla,” Vlad explained in that patient manner of his. “As it seems that you’ve got no family on record—which is odd, due to Igor informing all of us of your Pureblood status.”

“Purebloods take care of their own,” Lina told Cait softly. “However, we cannot understand why no one has come forward to claim you.”

“It is now too late for them to do so, however,” Vlad said. “I mean, you’ve stated more than once your reluctance to leave, and we believed us all to be on the same page, in regards to family, and to your future.”

Cait nodded. “Yes. You are my family. But what does that have to do with...?”

“We’ve adopted you, darling,” Lina informed her, clutching at Cait’s hand.

“We were legally responsible for you until you reached the age of seventeen, but that was hardly long enough for any of us,” Vlad said softly. “We just knew in our hearts that you were our daughter and our child, as much as Annie and Viktor are. We wanted it to be a permanent arrangement, and we’ve been successful.”

Cait blinked, her eyelashes growing heavy with unshed tears. “Does... Does this mean...?”

“You’re a Krum now, Cait!” Annie shouted, hardly able to keep calm anymore.

“Which means I’ve _really_ got two sisters now,” Viktor joked.

“Guess this means Professor Gushtanov will have a free-for-all with his potential methods of torture when it comes to me,” Cait joked.

“You just send him to me, your father, if he gets out of line,” Vlad declared, his voice getting choked up, as he declared himself Cait’s father, in so many words, for the first time.

“I will, Tatko,” Cait said, struggling with a great many emotions as the name escaped her mouth for the first time. “Thank you, both of you... Máyka,” she said, and turned to look at Lina, who smiled through her tears. “Vesela Koleda,” she declared, and everyone around her cheered, and she was enveloped by a never ending series of hugs, this time from her official family.


	5. Larvae of Mosquitoes

The Krum’s seaside cottage still stood as proudly as could be, and Cait was pleased to be there as an official Krum that summer. The rest of the school year had gone swimmingly, with Doblest being victorious in pursuit of both the Quidditch and House Cup. Professor Vulchanova was most delighted at the dual victories, and even excused Cait early from her final lesson, knowing full well that there would be a celebration in the common room. While Cait had danced with Branimir and enjoyed the evening, she still couldn’t shake the dirty looks that Vasilisa had given her throughout the year, and was determined to spend the summer figuring it out.

Cait was delighted that Branimir had opted to join them at the cottage for some of the summer, although Vlad and Lina—Tatko and Máyka, she quickly reminded herself—were a little on edge about their relationship. Initially, Cait thought that it had to do with protectiveness, and that they didn’t want her and Branimir to get too close to one another. However, after speaking to Annie about it, she discovered it now had to do with their familial relationship. Nevertheless, there wasn’t much they could do, save for forbidding them to see one another, but Cait was convinced that they thought it would fizzle out eventually.

As per usual upon arrival, Viktor threw himself into helping Vlad unpack, and Cait and Annie attempted to stifle their giggles at the youngest Krum siblings’ movements. Once they were all inside and Tessy had banished their trunks and other belongings upstairs, Cait lowered Verena onto the ground, while Annie released Alida out a window for an early hunt. Viktor, who would be starting his first-year at Durmstrang in the autumn, had already begun his research on magical familiars, and had constantly told their parents that he was responsible enough to care for something that utterly depended upon him.

It took them a few days to settle in and re-learn the summer routine but, once that happened, things ran much smoother at the cottage. Cait had finally decided to reveal to Branimir, who had showed up after a week, the extent of her powers, and both Vlad and Lina had put up precautions around their portion of the beach. Knowing that they wouldn’t want to get a call from Vlad’s Auror co-workers from the Bulgarian Ministry, Cait was perfectly all right with the compromise put in place. Taking her boyfriend by the hand and leading him from the cottage and down to the water’s edge, Branimir was a little confused as he felt the buzzing of magic around them, likely concealing them from all the Muggles vacationing around them.

“All right, you’ve got me down here,” Branimir said, a hint of uneasiness in his tone, almost as if he was attempting to convince himself that Cait wasn’t a deadly form of Kelpie. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

Cait bit her lip, squeezing Branimir’s hand before dropping it. “You know how secretive I’ve been about my lessons with Professor Vulchanova?”

Branimir nodded. “Yeah. Everyone in my year was taking bets as to what these lessons were really about.”

Cait raised an eyebrow at the unexpected information. “Oh, really?”

“I didn’t participate!” Branimir said quickly, throwing up his hands. “It wasn’t like that, Cait, I swear to Merlin!”

Cait sighed, knowing that, when it came to secrets surrounding teenagers, that rumors were likely to abound in great numbers. “Oh, very well then. What was the consensus?”

“That you were being trained to fight in the war,” Branimir said softly.

Cait’s brows knit together. “I don’t understand. What war? Surely you don’t mean the war against You-Know-Who and his followers...”

“Precisely,” Branimir replied.

Cait shook her head. “Why would I need to be trained to fight? The war’s over. Harry Potter defeated You-Know-Who nearly five years ago...”

“His Death Eaters are convinced that, one day, he will make a return,” Branimir said gravely to Cait, whose blood ran cold at the declaration.

“Why?” she whispered.

“They didn’t find his body,” he said softly. “That has convinced people enough that he’s in hiding somewhere, biding his time...”

Cait turned towards the water, suddenly ill. “All those poor people...”

“Cait, it’s all right,” Branimir said, placing a hand upon her shoulder. “The British Ministry of Magic knows it can depend upon our ministry, as well as the many others throughout the Wizarding World, for assistance if need be. You need not fret, as we’d be perfectly safe, given that we’ve got magical blood in our veins...”

“It shouldn’t matter!” Cait suddenly screamed, an onslaught of magic suddenly thrumming through her at the notion of further suffering, and her knees buckled. No sooner had she touched the surface of the water, but did it suddenly resemble a typhoon, and she was yanked out with the tide that came with it. Struggling to keep her head above water, Cait abruptly became aware that it was not her legs treading water, but a tail of a mermaid.

“Cait!” came a shout from the house then, and, looking up, Cait saw Vlad and Lina unexpectedly running down the beach towards her, while Branimir stood helplessly and frightened upon the shore line.

“You need to calm down!” Vlad told her. “Your powers are manifesting themselves into a water storm, and the damage would be far too great!”

“Listen to my voice, Cait,” Lina said quietly, almost as if she wanted her calmness to be a guiding light for her adopted daughter. “I want you to focus on it, and allow yourself to calm down, and guide you back to shore.”

Cait focused on nothing but Lina’s voice and, almost as quickly as it had come, the violent waves around her dissipated, and she was promptly brought back to shore. As the water gently brought her back onto the sand, she reached for Vlad, who promptly got her out, with assistance from Branimir. The pair of them immediately drew back when they spotted Cait’s mermaid form for the first time, and Cait sighed, lowering her eyes.

“I... I didn’t know, about this part,” she said, gesturing to her tail.

Lina, after giving a cursory glance around them, drew her wand, and whispered, “_Ad hominem syreni_,” and Cait’s tail promptly changed back into her legs.

Vlad conjured a towel for her, wrapping her up expertly, while Lina helped in drying her off, after observing that Cait was likely in shock. “What happened?” Vlad demanded then, and cast an angered look at Branimir.

“I... I told her about the rumors surrounding her lessons with Professor Vulchanova,” Branimir told him, looking uncomfortable.

“Teenage rumors should have no bearing upon—”

“Vlad,” Lina said, cutting across her husband and shaking her head at him. “You know very well how invested teenagers can be. They’re quite different than adults, as you well remember. Be a bit more compassionate, please.”

“No matter how much I may care for Branimir, my dear, he has upset our daughter, which is something I _will_ not—”

“Tatko, please,” Cait managed to get out, still shivering beneath the towel, causing Lina to cast a Drying Charm upon her. “Bran didn’t do it to upset me. I asked him about the rumors. And before you try and tell me I’m covering for him because he’s my boyfriend, you’re mistaken. If he truly upset me deliberately, well, Annie would be the first to know, but I’m sure it’d get back to you eventually...”

Vlad sighed. “It seems to me that your hydrokinetic abilities have evolved to the point where, if you’re faced with an extreme emotional reaction, you will phase into a mermaid,” he observed, and dragged a hand down his careworn face. “Well, this certainly complicates things...”

“Of course she’s bound to be emotional, Vlad, especially at this age,” Lina put in, holding Cait close, almost as if to let her know that she wasn’t condoning her husband’s words. “However, I think that, with more lessons from Albena next term, she’ll be able to better control her emotions, to the point where it won’t be as much of a problem.”

“Can you do that, Cait?” Vlad asked, affixing his eyes to his younger daughter. “Can you keep attending lessons with Albena, so as to better control your emotions?”

Cait swallowed, but nevertheless nodded her head. “Yes. I believe it would be worse for me if I let it slip all that I could do. Who knows what people would do, if they knew the extent of my powers and abilities?”

“They’ll have to go through me first,” Branimir declared.

Cait gave her boyfriend a small smile; despite everything that had happened, she wasn’t upset, not at him, anyway. “And I wouldn’t doubt that for a moment,” she assured him.

. . .

Tȗrgovski Tscentȗr never seemed to change, and, as they arrived via the Floo in The Rose Saloon and waited for Vlad and Lina to clean them up, Cait and Annie looked on as Viktor was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. Viktor wanted to go to the Spectral Shoppe almost immediately, wanting to pick out his familiar. However, Vlad and Lina informed Viktor that they would have to meet with Gregorovitch first, so as to find out which wand would ultimately choose their only son.

Finally, after promising Viktor that he could have as much browsing time as needed to select his familiar, Viktor trooped towards the wand shop. Once inside, and after re-introductions were given to Vlad, Lina, Annie, and Cait, the wandmaker turned to Viktor, a smile upon his aged face. Nodding his head, he talked Viktor through the wand selection process, and waited patiently for him to utter the Summoning Charm.

“_Accio_,” Viktor said, his voice clear.

It was then that there was some rustling from the back, and Gregorovitch held out his hand for the box, which came flying towards him, without looking back. He took the box and opened it slowly, showing off the wand within, and gestured for Viktor to pick it up. “Ah, ten and a quarter inches, hornbeam, dragon heartstring,” he said, and watched Viktor’s movements with it. “Ah, it appears to be quite rigid,” he observed, as Viktor held the thick staff in his hands. “Well, go on, then, Master Krum,” the wandmaker said, nodding in approval. “Wave it about and attempt to cast a spell with it.”

Viktor held the wand aloft, which curved slightly and was not straight at all, and said, “_Accio_,” once again, causing one of the knick knacks that the wandmaker had upon his check-out counter to zoom towards Viktor, who caught it effortlessly.

“A Seeker, I see,” the man said with approval, nodding his head, while Vlad and Lina gave one another worried looks. “Ah, well... That will be ten Galleons, then,” he announced, and puttered over towards the counter, after taking the knick knack back from Viktor.

Once all their books were procured, with Cait and Annie getting an extra one that term, as they were to officially begin Care of Magical Creatures, Viktor bounced in the direction of the Spectral Shoppe, fully prepared to get his familiar. Lina looked on indulgently, while Vlad reminded his son to remember all the reading he’d done over the past several months. As the family slipped into the store, the wizard in charge greeted them and, once he understood the purpose of their visit, informed them to look to their heart’s content, as selecting a familiar was a serious business.

Viktor passed the cages filled with Kneazles and the ones filled with rats, not getting that warm and fuzzy feeling that one typically gets from furry little animals. The lizards or owls didn’t appease him either, and he shook his head when Vlad even suggested them. Rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet, he finally whipped around at the sound of a whimper from behind him and, upon stepping closer, saw the pen which housed a new litter of Crup puppies. Viktor’s demeanor immediately changed from discouragement to delight as he stepped closer, and let out a small coo as one Cruppy planted its paws upon the pen, its forked tail wagging back and forth, and looked up at him with intelligent black eyes.

Viktor, without hesitation, lifted the little mite and soothed it, running his hands through its soft, white fur. “Roderick,” the young wizard said softly, naming the Cruppy for a British Quidditch Seeker by the name of Roderick Plumpton, who was still alive and kicking, despite his advanced age. “Tatko,” he said, and turned to Vlad, “this is the one.”

Vlad looked indulgently down at his only son and ruffled his hair. “Of course he is,” he said, and gently petted the Cruppy, who leaned into the touch. Walking up to the counter while Cait, Annie, and Lina helped Viktor in picking out a collar, leash, and a smattering of toys for the new addition, he asked, “How much for the Cruppy and all his necessities?”

“That comes out to,” the wizard behind the counter said, looking over the hoped-for purchases the women of the Krum family had helped Viktor select, “eighty-three Galleons, two Sickles, and twenty-three Knuts.”

. . .

Vlad and Lina managed to navigate with three children that year, as opposed to two, to the train station in Sofia, while Annie and Cait showed Viktor to the wizarding platform. Once the three of them had gone through and gotten out on the other side, Vlad and Lina quickly moved to enter it behind them. Stepping towards the train, Cait and Annie showed Viktor where to hand off his trunk, and explained that their robes would appear in the compartment. They further informed him that he was permitted to bring Roderick into the compartment he chose, should he not wish to continue to be with Cait and Annie. However, much to his elder sister’s delight, Viktor opted to be with them, and they said a quick goodbye to Vlad and Lina, before making their way into the train and grabbing a compartment.

No sooner had they sat down and let out their respective familiars than the door opened once again, and Branimir and Vasilisa stepped inside. Vasilisa greeted Annie, ignored Cait, and moved to sit with Viktor, and began lecturing him about his first-year. Annie proceeded to mediate between the familiars, ensuring that they had plenty of space between them, while Branimir caught up Cait in his arms and kissed her.

“How are you?” he asked, for it had been a month since they had seen one another.

“I’m fine,” Cait assured him, pulling him onto one of the cushioned seats and nuzzling up against him fondly. “And how are you?”

“Fine, promise,” he told her, running his hands through her hair. “I promised Uncle Vlad that I wouldn’t provoke you deliberately...”

Cait sighed, nodding to herself. “Yeah, that’s probably for the best. Annie kept warning me that Professor Gushtanov might take my mermaid status and run with it.”

“We won’t let that happen,” Branimir declared, wrapping his arms around Cait, and holding her closely against him. “Nobody will get by me, Cait. I swear to Merlin.”

Cait pressed herself closer to Branimir, feeling secure for the first time in a long time, and it would have been a complete feeling, were it not for the heated glare that Vasilisa was currently sending her way. “I know, Bran. Thank you,” she said softly.

The sweet trolley went by at the appointed hour, and Viktor gladly spent a worthy amount of Galleons to satisfy his sweet tooth. Then, when they got closer and closer towards the Durmstrang grounds, the barrier within the compartment was erected, and the young men and women were sequestered to one side each to change. Cait was thankful that Annie automatically took the space in the center, as she was worried that Vasilisa would make fun of her breasts, which seemed to be growing like godforsaken weeds.

Upon arrival, the four of them said goodbye to Viktor, who trooped off with the other first-years, while Vasilisa proceeded with her prefect duties. This left Branimir to escort Cait and Annie up to the school, the cool night air nipping at them, despite the thickness of their robes. Once they were inside and had entered the Stolovaya, they promptly made their way over to the Doblest House table, and slipped inside, with Cait sitting in between them. Clutching at Branimir’s hand as the rest of the students filed in, she found she was a bit nervous about Viktor’s arrival, and wondered which house would ultimately be selected for him.

She needn’t have worried.

Viktor, alongside Poliakoff Uritsky, were sorted into Doblest House. Viktor and Poliakoff seemed to get along swimmingly, despite the latter’s abysmal table manners. Despite this, he seemed like a sweet-enough individual, and Cait knew that Annie would write home almost immediately to inform Vlad and Lina about the sorting. Smiling to herself at the turn of events, Cait attempted to continue ignoring Vasilisa as the feast began.

“I just don’t understand it,” Cait whispered, once she and Annie had gone to their dorm, and while their three friends were utilizing the loo.

“Understand what?” Annie queried.

“It’s just... It’s enough now,” Cait said, hands on hips, as she paced the room, thankfully not tripping on her long, white nightgown.

Annie, perched upon her four-poster and clad in a similar nightgown, shook her head. “Cait, I’m sorry. You’re my sister, my best friend, and I love you, but you’re going to need to give me a bit more to go on than that. I’m not a mind-reader, you know...”

Cait threw her hands up into the air, before she threw herself down onto her bed, staring at the impressive scarlet canopy, and bit her lip. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just overreacting, but it’s been going on long enough...”

“What’s been going...?” Annie stopped herself then, and sighed, propping herself up against her great many pillows, and shook her head. “Oh. You’re talking about Lisa, aren’t you?”

Cait pursed her lips, before turning on her side to look over at her sister. “Yes. It just seems to have gotten worse, now that I’m with Bran and all...”

“I would’ve initially chalked it up to over-protectiveness, because you know their secret, but she’s gone too far...”

Cait pushed herself upwards then, and peered closer to Annie. “She’s been giving me dirty looks and not speaking to me for nearly a year, Annie. While it’s immature at best, I hardly think that her behavior constitutes going too far...”

Annie flushed and lowered her eyes. “I thought for sure that Bran would’ve told you...”

“What?” Cait queried.

Annie sighed, running her fingers through her dark hair as she proceeded to braid it, as she often did, before going to sleep. “The rumors, while he wasn’t a part of them...” She shook her head. “I thought for sure he would’ve...” She clicked her tongue then, but finally forced herself to keep right on speaking. “Lisa was the one who started them.”

Cait sighed, deflating ever so slightly upon the surface of her bed. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to hear about that development,” she muttered. “She has it in for me, I knew that, but to actually say something so hurtful...”

“It’s what she said within the rumor... I think Bran deliberately told you the tamer version, not to keep it from you intentionally, but so as not to hurt you...”

Cait blinked. “What? ‘Tamer version’? What does...? Annie, what aren’t you telling me?” came Cait’s whisper as she attempted to figure it out for herself.

Annie swallowed, visibly upset, but nevertheless continued with her methodic task of braiding her hair. “You know what the rumor entailed?”

Cait nodded. “Yes. That Professor Vulchanova was training me for the Wizarding War. It’s all a bunch of bull anyway, Annie. You know that I’m too young, not to mention not even British, and while I know that they’re our friends and allies, I’ve got no reason to participate...”

Annie sighed. “I know that, Cait.”

Cait squared her shoulders, knowing full well that her thoughts surrounding the issue would never leave her alone unless she knew the answer. “Well, what did she say, then?”

Annie finally finished braiding her hair, and let the rope fall as she gripped at the scarlet coverlet covering her bed. “Lisa implied that it would be good for you to fight in the war, especially now, because you don’t have a handle on your magic...”

Cait blinked. “That wasn’t all, was it?” she whispered.

Annie lowered her eyes and shook her head. “No, it wasn’t...”

“Tell me,” Cait demanded.

“Because you don’t have a handle on your magic, Lisa implied that you would probably die in any war you were faced with, and that it would be a good thing...”

Cait felt as if she’d been punched. “She... Lisa wants me dead?” she whispered.

Annie sighed. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I can’t answer that, because I haven’t asked her. I suppose it has to do with me not wanting to know the answer completely...”

Cait wrapped her arms around her legs, drawing them up beneath her chin. “I don’t know what I did to make her so angry,” she whispered. “What could I have possibly done to Lisa, wherein she thinks the only way for justice to be served, is my death?”

. . .

On the final Friday of October, Cait was all too pleased to miss out on the whole goblin tradition that Durmstrang had, as she was to have a lesson with Professor Vulchanova. Her Head of House had received a missive from her father over the summer months, informing her of the new and rather unexpected development pertaining to her powers and abilities. Albena Vulchanova then decided that a new strategy would be implemented, and the sooner, the better.

Once Cait had arrived in her chambers that evening, the Magical Theory professor requested for her to close the door, as she sat by the fireplace. Cait did as she was told and stepped forward, affixing a curious gaze upon her most favored professor. The woman gave her a small smile back, knowing that it was now or never.

“Please, sit down, Cait,” she said, and Cait sat. “I don’t know if your parents informed you of this, but I received a letter from them over the summer months.”

Cait nodded. “I believed that to be the case, ma’am. They informed me that they would be keeping you apprised of any developments relating to my... Well, I confess that I still think of them as abnormalities,” she admitted, hunching her shoulders.

Professor Vulchanova nodded her head, not about to snap at her student, wanting Cait to fully realize how safe a place this was, and that she could speak freely there. “They told me about you taking shape of a mermaid.”

Cait nodded a second time. “Yes. It was a truly shocking development, ma’am.”

“I can imagine,” she said softly, “as it was for me when I made my transformation.”

Cait immediately looked up at the woman, her mouth falling open, as she shook her head, as if she were trying to clear it. “I... I don’t understand. You’re not a mermaid, too, are you?”

The woman laughed good-naturedly. “Oh, Merlin, no, Cait,” she assured her. “No. But I was around your age when I transformed into my secondary form for the first time. It was, to say the least, quite a shock.”

Cait nipped at her lower lip, but finally forced herself to nod. “Um, ma’am, not to be impertinent, but would you mind telling me what your secondary form is?”

“Not at all, my dear,” the woman replied, before getting to her feet.

Albena Vulchanova spread her arms out then, and her hair seemed to fall down like a dark waterfall of its own accord down her back. As she focused on the earth magic rippling through her, Cait thought that she could sense a difference around them, and let out a gasp as her professor’s chambers changed around the pair of them, and they were standing in some beautiful woods. Professor Vulchanova placed her hand upon a tree, and was now garbed in a luxurious-looking tunic, in a moss-green color, with a beryl gemstone hanging from around her neck, as well as embedded within a golden circlet, placed just so around her head. The tree, the moment she touched it, glowed gold, and the golden beam seemed to flash around them, to the point where it danced along the trunks of each tree around them both.

“You’re a Nymph,” Cait breathed, truly in shock.

“Specifically, I am a Hyleoroi,” she declared with a smile. “I am a watcher of the woods. What many students of Durmstrang don’t know is, there is a fairly sizeable forest just over the peak of the highest mountain. It is these woods that I am entrusted with, and where we stand now,” she went on.

“But... There is no snow,” Cait whispered.

“An enchantment,” Professor Vulchanova explained, “wherein I can make the weather bend to my will, should I wish it, but never abuse the power. I thought spring would be a good place to start, when I knew it was high time to bring you here.”

“Why spring?” Cait wanted to know, looking over the various plants and flowers around her, and found everything to be utterly beautiful.

“Spring symbolizes rebirth,” the Magical Theory professor told Cait. “You, in an essence, were born again when you took on your second form. It is a most beautiful thing, one only known to a portion of the wizarding population.”

Cait fingered one of the trees closes to her, and felt a delightful zing of earth magic corresponding to her water abilities. “There is so much more of the world for me to discover, isn’t there?” she asked.

Professor Vulchanova smiled, dropping her hand from the tree, and permitting the forest to return to her chambers. She was again gilded in the traditional teaching robes, and her hair found its way back up into her typical bun. “Yes, I am afraid we never stop learning,” she informed Cait, and Cait smiled at the sight of the beryl pendant at her neck.

Once the lesson was over for the evening, Cait slipped from the woman’s chambers, knowing that she would have to be back to the Doblest House common room by nine. As she made her way down the corridor and towards the staircase, which would take her directly there, she was suddenly in the same hallway as the headmaster. Although she saw the man on a daily basis, she hadn’t spoken to him directly since he had arranged for the Krums to care for her.

“Headmaster,” she said, and moved so that she could get to her common room.

“Do not rush off on my account, Cait,” he said.

Cait’s skin crawled at the familiarity of the man, but pushed it aside. “I’m sorry, sir. I only meant to get back to my common room before curfew.”

Headmaster Karkaroff nodded to himself, fingering at his beard. “Yes, I suppose so. How was your lesson with Professor Vulchanova this evening?”

Cait inwardly sighed; of course, given that it was his school for the time being, it was only natural that the man knew about any additional lessons his students had. “It was fine, thank you, sir,” she managed to get out.

“I’m pleased to hear that you’ve decided to go the route of controlling your abilities, and that you understand just how connected to your emotions they truly are.”

Cait forced a smile onto her lips. “Yes, sir. I’m learning as much as I can, and Professor Vulchanova provides a comfortable environment in which to do so.”

The headmaster looked her up and down then, and something in those dark eyes of his caused something within Cait to grow uneasy. “I notice you’ve been spending quite a bit of time with Branimir Bonheur of late.”

Cait nodded at him. “Yes, sir.”

“Are you and he involved in a romantic relationship, then?” the man asked, stepping closer. “I cannot help but think that such a relationship would be a conflict of interest, given your familial relationship.”

“One that was brought about through adoption, sir,” Cait told him, struggling to keep her temper in check. “There is no blood connecting me to Branimir.”

“Ah,” said the man, looking disappointed. “So, the pair of you are involved.”

“Yes, sir,” Cait said softly.

“He is sixteen, you know,” the man informed her, “due to turn seventeen in three months’ time. I cannot help but think that such an age difference is inappropriate.”

“I will be fourteen by the time his birthday comes to pass, sir,” Cait responded.

“Nevertheless,” the headmaster said, stepping closer, “it is my duty to keep students safe. How am I to know the pair of you are being safe?” he said, and Cait squirmed with discomfort as his fingers ran down from her hair, to her cheek, and stopped just beneath her collar bone. “I cannot help but think that you are being used, my dear.”

Cait thought she would bring her dinner up at the endearment; sure, it was all right when her family or Professor Vulchanova took such liberties, but the headmaster doing so? The thought and the meaning behind it made her uncomfortable. “While we are private about our relationship, sir, I can assure you that every precaution is being taken.”

“I don’t want to hear such things, not from you,” he suddenly barked, and lowered his hand from her collar bone, and gripped at her arm. “You will remain pure, Cait.”

Cait wanted to struggle to get away from him, but found herself much to shocked to even attempt to do so. “Sir?” she whispered.

“You are to remain pure until such a time as your parents find a suitable husband for you.”

Cait’s insides writhed with a combination of rage and discomfort. “Sir, I hardly think that we should be discussing...”

“As I said,” the man replied, gripping her arm harder, enough to ensure that bruises would be there the following day, “I am to ensure the safety of my students. As such, part of your safety involves your purity. I won’t have you sullied, Cait,” he went on, before releasing her arm and moving his hand upwards to caress her cheek once again, and, this time, permitted the pad of his thumb to stroke against her bottom lip. “Wouldn’t want such a delicate and beautiful flower such as yourself to give into the wanton ways of a teenage boy...”

Cait gave a stiff nod, knowing that it would be better for her if she agreed with the man, at the very least, on paper. “Yes, sir,” she replied.

“Very good,” he said, and smiled in a possessive manner down at her, before stepping back and away from her. “Now, run along back to your common room.”

“Yes, sir. Goodnight, sir,” she managed to get out, before walking as quickly as she could past the man, although her insides swam with nerves as she felt his penetrating gaze upon her as she turned the corner, towards the common room. Once inside, she was relieved that neither Branimir nor Vasilisa was about, and promptly went upstairs. It may have been a Friday, but Cait wanted an early night, especially after what Headmaster Karkaroff had put her though.

Cait let herself into the third-year girls’ dorm, and shut the door behind her. Verena appeared to be out late for a hunt, and she didn’t begrudge her familiar such a thing. Shaking her head, she promptly went into the bathroom and stripped off, stepping into one of the shower cubicles and turned the water on hot. She couldn’t understand what possessed her, but all she knew was that she absolutely needed to get the fingerprints from the headmaster off of her. Sure, it wouldn’t take the memory away, but, at the very least, she could give herself the illusion that she was clean again.

By the time she’d finished and gotten on her dressing gown, she trekked back into the common room, depositing her laundry into the basket for the maids to take, and perched upon her bed. It was when her friends came inside the dorm that she, once again, plastered a smile onto her face and make small talk with them as they, too prepared for bed. Shaking her head, she summoned her comb and pulled at the tangles in her hair, using the pain of each momentary snarl as a distraction from the overwhelming sense of foreboding that she felt.

“Cait?”

Cait dropped her comb at the sound of Annie’s voice, and stared at her sister, forcing herself not to tremble, and accepted her comb back, once she’d handed it over. “Thank you,” she managed to get out, forcing a smile back onto her face.

Annie looked her over. “You don’t sound like yourself.”

Cait scoffed, shaking her head at her sister, and turning away from her. “What do you mean I don’t sound like myself? Of course I do...”

Annie shook her head, but Cait didn’t notice, as she was still facing away from her. “No, I think something’s going on with you...”

Cait shook her head at her. “Drop it,” she whispered, turning around to face her. “Please, Annie, can we just drop it?”

Annie looked shocked at the sudden change within her sister’s demeanor; normally so confident to the point of shocking, now, Cait was outright begging Annie. “Did... Did Bran do something to you?” came her whisper.

Cait shook her head, taking off her dressing gown and tossing it to the foot of the bed. “No. I haven’t seen him since dinner,” she replied, and turned down her bed.

Annie immediately got to her feet and yanked at Cait’s arm, the one that the headmaster had grabbed, and pulled it upwards. She let out a gasp and staggered backwards, taking in the finger marks of bruises, currently etched upon her sister’s arm. “What...? What...?”

“Nothing!” Cait snapped, getting into bed, and whispering, “_Nox_,” in the direction of her lap, before pulling the chords of her curtains. “Go to sleep.”

. . .

Cait was sitting at breakfast the following Wednesday; she was an absolute wreck, and knew full well that Nikolina would bench her, should she continue to act the way she’d done during Quidditch practice that weekend. Of course, Nikolina was plenty distracted, what with Viktor becoming Doblest House’s new Seeker, but she still found time to inform Cait that, as a Chaser, she was just as important, and that she wouldn’t be permitted to show the team up. Cait ignored the conversations around her, and was pleased that Branimir hadn’t pressed too hard, while she dragged her spoon along the surface of her steaming porridge.

When the screeches of the owls suddenly loomed overhead, Cait didn’t even bother looking up, as she barely showed any interest in her morning meal. It came as a shock, however, when Alida landed before her and Annie, with two letters attached to her legs. Annie took the one with her name on it, while Cait tentatively reached her hers. Alida was rewarded with a delectable piece of sausage from Annie for her trouble, before she swooped off and away.

Annie broke the seal upon her letter, letting out a shout of indignation, and shook her head at its contents, altogether shaking with rage.

“What is it?” Branimir asked.

“A summons for courtship,” she said bitterly.

“It’s only natural,” Vasilisa informed her. “You’re the first daughter from a well-to-do Pureblood family. Of course courtships are going to begin, now that you’re fourteen.”

Annie muttered under her breath. “I’m to meet him at Tulipa Tearoom in Durm Selo, upon the occasion of our first Durm Selo trip,” she said bitterly, fingering the missive. “At least we’ll be meeting in public. We won’t be able to hex one another...”

Viktor looked around Branimir’s shoulder then, and chuckled with a shake of his head. “I’m sorry in advance,” he muttered.

“How bad could it be?” Cait asked, surprising herself by speaking at all, and Annie wordlessly handed her the letter. Cait blanched white, especially at the name of the family who had formally asked for Annie’s courtship—the Antonov family, and Stefan would be the one to be courting Annie in the first place. “Merlin,” she whispered.

“What’s your letter say?” Annie asked, snatching her own letter back.

Cait sighed, realizing she would have to read it eventually, and opened it up.

_I’ve seen to it that you’ll be excused from Care of Magical Creatures this morning. Please come directly to my office._

_No dawdling._

_Headmaster Karkaroff_

Cait felt awash with several emotions then, but she knew that the end result of this mandatory visit to the headmaster wouldn’t be good.

“Cait?” Branimir asked, placing a hand upon the small of her back, startling her slightly. “Is everything all right?”

Cait nodded. “Yes, yeah,” she said, folding up the letter and putting it into her back. “I... I just need to be alone,” she managed to get out, leaving her uneaten breakfast right where it was, as she stumbled out of the Stolovaya, her feet automatically taking her to the headmaster’s office, and somehow, someway, she knew that there had been a Compulsion Spell attached to the letter he had sent her, thus bringing her closer and closer to her potential doom.


	6. The Fire In Which We Burn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Assault warning for this chapter, and for many of the future chapters. Things continue, from here on in, to get dark for a significant period of time. You have been warned.

Cait kicked up from the ground upon the Durmstrang Quidditch pitch hard, her Comet 260 keeping her airborne as she circled the area. Gripping onto the broomstick itself, she attempted not to swerve this way and that as she flew. Tears blinded her vision, and she kept her teeth gritted so hard to keep from sobbing that her jaw was beginning to hurt. It was amazing how wrong you could be about a person and, even when faced with all the answers, so many questions still remained.

_“I know you won’t be telling anyone about this, Catherina. I would _Obliviate_ you, but such an act would be seen as suspicious. All members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, no matter what Wizarding Ministry they’re a part of, knows how to figure out if there are holes within your mind.”_

Cait’s skin crawled once again, doing a complicated zip through the air, so much so that her lunch of roast chicken, normally her favorite food, nearly came up upon the pitch itself. Her hands were sweaty against the shaft of her broom, and all she wanted to do was discover that she was in her dormitory bed, and all of this had been a horrible nightmare. The very scenario that drove her to all this made her physically ill, so much so that she had been barely able to pick at her lunch initially; however, when both Branimir and Annie had called attention to her lack of eating, Cait had scarfed down some food before heading out to the pitch.

_“I call you Catherina because ‘Cait’ is a mere bastardization of such a beautiful name. I am quite sure you got such a name in the Muggle foster care system you were forced to be a part of... No matter. Here, when we have our little visits, you shall be Catherina, and only ever to me; part of me has a mind to put a Fidelus upon your name so as I may be the only one who has the power to use it...”_

Cait’s insides swam as her tears trailed down her cheeks, hardly able to stop themselves now, but she kept her jaw locked in place. She would not give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry. She knew well enough by now that headmasters of any magical school had ears everywhere, although eyes were blinded by various barriers. So, she could cry all she wanted, yet silently, for only then could she keep the power of her emotions close to her.

_“Don’t cry, my beautiful Catherina. Please, do not give yourself over to such negative emotions when such a positive thing is happening. It is not very often that magical beings feel such a powerful connection to one another. Catherina... Pure and virginal. I know quite well that those adjectives apply to you, my pet, and will continue do so, until I decide to do finally something about them.”_

Cait skidded to a stop midair, before flying to the edge of the pitch and dropping downwards as quickly as she dared. Her legs buckled the moment she hit the ground, her knees screaming with pain as she landed, hard, upon the barren grass. Squeezing her eyes shut and attempting to calm her stomach, nerves, and thoughts, she found she could not do so, as she subsequently vomited her lunch from that afternoon, and her breakfast from that morning. She was no longer able to hold back the revulsion at the man’s words, nor could she put out of her mind the disgusting feelings she had felt when he had put his hands upon her. The worst thing about the entirety of the visit, however, was when he had kissed her, and she had been so frightened that she was unable to move for the duration of the peak of the assault.

Tears continued to stream down her cheeks as she finished vomiting, only to give way to broken sobs as she wrapped her arms around herself. The irrational part of her felt as if she had betrayed Branimir, although the rational side of things attempted to persuade her that she had done nothing wrong. Shuddering as she banished the vomit, she painstakingly got to her knees, but was so unsteady that she had to grip upon the sides of the bleachers. As tears continued to blind her vision, she felt anguished to realize that these “visits” with the headmaster would continue and, with no one to turn to, due to her fear, she felt as if there was no way to stop them.

Still clutching at her broom as if it were a lifeline, Cait quickly dashed the tears from her eyes and vanished the smell of vomit from her person. She gazed skyward, feeling a little bit better about things as clouds suddenly overtook the expanse, and gave way to rain. Then, turning on her heel, she slowly trudged back to the school, knowing that Professor Vulchanova would be suspicious if she was late to Magical Theory.

. . .

Cait did her best to keep her head down for the next two days, convincing Annie and Branimir that she had a headache and just wanted to catch up on her studies and sleep. There wasn’t a Quidditch practice that weekend, as it was the first trip to Durm Selo of term, and the first one where Cait and Annie were permitted to go. Annie was quite nervous, due to her first public outing in her courtship with Stefan Antonov, but was determined to make the best of it. She felt a bit better when a parcel had arrived the evening before from Lina, which held a beautiful winter dress that was deemed “appropriate” for her outing.

Cait swallowed as she herself methodically got ready for that days’ excursion. Branimir had asked if she would accompany him for a date as well, to the haunt of all the Durmstrang students in the little village. It was called The Babay Bierkeller, known for oak furnishings, herbal teas, boza, homemade juices and compotes, and was a haunt for various spirits. Cait had accepted after hearing plenty about it from Vlad and Lina, and knew that, perhaps, other people would be around so that Branimir wouldn’t ask her much about her massively changed behavior over the last several days.

Cait selected a nondescript blouse, skirt, tights, and knee-length snow boots trimmed with fur, which matched her cloak. Putting that on as well and situating her hair into two plates, she casted a Cleaning Charm upon her teeth before heading out of the dorm behind Annie. Branimir and Cait had agreed to walk downstairs with Annie, where she was to meet Stefan at the entrance to the school, before the walk down the hill to Durm Selo. Annie chattered to Branimir, thankfully, upon the walk, but Cait became uneasy when they reached Stefan, who looked surprisingly contrite, and offered Annie his arm, before they all stepped outside into the snow.

Cait forced a smile onto her lips as Branimir took her hand, and allowed him to guide her as they made their way down the winding road. She kept quiet, listening to him continue describing The Babay Bierkeller, and realized just how much it meant to him for the first time. She felt all the more guilty, for he was sharing someplace with her that obviously meant a lot to him, and here she was, keeping secrets from him. She felt like a goddamned hypocrite.

“It’s been there for centuries,” Branimir said, launching easily into lecture mode as they came to the entrance of Durm Selo. “Hogwarts was founded in the tenth century, while Durmstrang was founded in the thirteenth. The consensus is that The Babay Bierkeller has been in existence since the early-1300’s. A German wizard, Gernot Brandt, came over here to seek his fortune, where he met a beautiful Bulgarian witch, Kalina Monova, and the pair married soon thereafter, running the place between them for over a hundred years, due to our longevity. Their descendant, Panteleimon Brandt, still runs the place.”

The massive brick building came into view just as Branimir finished his speech, with a black, red, and white sign that was wooden, waving in the breeze, declaring it _The Babay Bierkeller_, in shimmering gold letters, with a striking blue cornflower carved beneath the words. It was all in surprisingly good condition, despite being built centuries ago, and Cait found that she would wager a guess that Preservation Charms were placed upon the building. She held herself back as Branimir opened the door, and held it out for her to step through first, and Cait did so, taking Branimir’s arm again once he’d offered it upon stepping inside.

“Evelyn!” Branimir called, and a buxom witch turned around then, her flowing blonde hair framing her face, and her bright blue eyes gleaming at the sight of Branimir.

“Liebling junge!” she cried out, dashing forward and kissing Branimir on both cheeks. She appeared to be close in age to Anastasia, and Cait recalled that she resembled a fellow Doblest student of theirs, Egbert. “Ah, and this must be your wunderschöne freundin, Cait!” she said warmly, and took Cait’s free hand in hers. “Such a pleasure to meet you, geliebte. I am Evelyn Bernhardt, sister to Panteleimon’s wife, Hildegard. Our children all attend Durmstrang with the pair of you; my son, Egbert, is in Branimir’s year, while Hilde’s daughter, Nadja, is in your year, but is in Pronitsatelen House.”

“I don’t know Nadja as well as I would like, Frau Bernhardt,” Cait replied effortlessly, “but, on the few occasions I’ve spoken to her, I’ve found her to be a freundliche junge frau. As for your Egbert, he spends much of his time in Branimir’s company but, as his freundin, I find that I, too must spend time with him, no matter how laut he may prove to be during studying sessions,” she said, and Branimir stared at Cait, mouth open, while Evelyn gleamed with delight.

“You speak German, then, liebling?” Evelyn asked, practically glowing with enthusiasm at her recent discovery.

“Ja, ich will,” Cait responded with a small smile. “I have done since I was very young.”

Evelyn quickly sat them at what she called “the best table the pub had to offer” and for them to summon her if either of them had need of anything. She beamed when they each ordered a glass of boza, a bowl each of sauerbraten, and a generous slice of Bienenstich to share. Sipping on their respective boza after they had glided over to their table, Branimir was staring at Cait, which directly caused her cheeks to heat.

“What?” she asked, slowly lowering her drink, as two massive bowls of their lunch came soaring over to them, and were placed expertly before them.

“I didn’t know you spoke German,” Branimir said, hesitantly lifting his spoon.

Cait, who had picked up her own spoon, trailed it absentmindedly over her lunch’s surface. “And English, French, Romanian, Russian, Italian, Greek, Bulgarian, Spanish, Latin, Hungarian, Czech, and Irish,” she said, shrugging her shoulders, almost as if it didn’t matter.

Branimir shook his head, and lowered his spoon again. “I suppose I don’t know as much about you as I thought I did.”

Cait flushed more deeply at his words. “No, I suppose you don’t,” she said, her shoulders hunching automatically.

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Branimir said, reaching across the table and taking her hand, which directly caused Cait to stiffen. “Just makes for more adventure.”

Cait gritted her teeth, and forced herself to remain still. “Yes, I suppose that’s true,” she said, and wondered how she could get out of this physical contact.

“Tell me something else about you that you don’t think I would’ve known,” Branimir said, and smiled across the table at her.

Cait swallowed. “Well, my Patronus and Animagus form are a cougar,” she said lamely, knowing full well she didn’t broadcast either bit of information.

Branimir pulled his hand away at that. “You... You’re an Animagus?” he whispered, truly shocked at the prospect.

Cait nodded. “Yes. Last Christmas, Annie and I did the spell and the potion when we went back home for the holidays. I won’t tell you her forms, as it is not my story to tell.”

Branimir swallowed. “Vasilisa and I are capable of both,” he said softly.

Cait blinked. “Really?” she asked.

Branimir gave a slow nod. “I suppose it’s only fair that I tell you my forms,” he said, “but Vasilisa...”

“Still hates me, I know,” Cait said, forcing yet another smile onto her face. “No matter. Tell me your forms, then.”

“An Italian wolf,” Branimir said quietly. “Papa’s was a tundra, so Maman always joked at how alike the two of us were...”

Cait felt a wave of sympathy then as she discovered a new wave of sensitivity that was her boyfriend. “You really miss him, don’t you?” she asked softly.

Branimir nodded, finally lifting his spoon again. “All wizarding restaurants have Warming Charms placed upon their food when it’s served hot, just so you never get something that might turn disgusting once cold.”

Cait lifted her spoon, knowing when a conversation was over, and a subject had to be dropped. “I suppose I’ll never figure everything out,” she joked. “I mean, I didn’t even know I was a witch until I was ten. Of course, everyone in Annie’s and my dorm always thinks that it’s strange that me, a Pureblood, would be abandoned by her parents...”

“You sure it was abandonment?”

Cait lifted her spoon to her lips, with food on it this time, and took a taste, amazed at how delicious such a simple meal was. “Well, I have to think along those lines, right? I mean, the alternative would just be too painful, I feel...”

“What’s the alternative?” Branimir queried between bites.

“Knowing that they wanted me, but they gave me up anyway,” Cait replied with a shrug as she continued to eat.

“Maybe it’s not that simple,” Branimir observed softly.

Cait blinked, shocked to find that there was an alternative, as well as the fact that she had nearly finished her bowl without so much as an upset stomach. “How do you mean?”

“Well, maybe it was a situation of that your biological father didn’t want children, or was abusive, and so your mother, for your own protection, gave you up, in the hopes that somehow, someway, have a better life,” Branimir suggested.

Cait found herself focusing upon the surface of the table then, and shook her head. “Doesn’t seem like such a good life now,” she muttered and, to her shock, she burned a hole completely through the wooden surface.

“Merlin, Cait!” Branimir cried out, as Cait darted backwards and got to her feet. “Are you all right?” he asked, looking for Evelyn, who promptly came over, shot a quick “_Reparo_” at the table, and cleared their bowls away.

Cait shook her head at him, wrapping her arms around herself. “I... I don’t know...”

Branimir cautiously stepped forward, and placed one hand upon her shoulder, and used the other to gently tilt her chin up. “Hey...”

Cait shuddered at the touch, a lump arising in her throat. “Bran...”

“It’s all right,” he assured her, closing the remainder of the distance between them, and pressed his lips to hers.

_“Mine... My, you taste delicious, don’t you? Make sure that boyfriend of yours knows that your arrangement is only temporary, my Catherina...”_

“No!” Cait shrieked then, stumbling backwards. Wordlessly, and through her tears, she made a grab for her cloak and rushed outside, nearly skidding through the snow as she went. As her sobs echoed off the buildings around her, she ran back towards the school, hating that her one-time safe haven had now officially become her prison.

. . .

Cait felt the headmaster’s eyes upon her as soon as she slipped into the assigned table with Annie on Thanksgiving in the Stolovaya. Vlad and Lina were momentarily distracted by Annie going on about how shocked she was about the courtship with Stefan Antonov, but the pair had reached an understanding relatively quickly, and had been hanging out between classes, as well as studying together. Cait had heard about the success of their first date, amid Annie comforting her in the wake of her failed one with Branimir in Durm Selo eighteen days previously.

Cait was fourteen now, but she’d barely acknowledged her birthday that year, her first one as an official member of the Krum family. Her days at Durmstrang had systematically proceeded to darken further, with Headmaster Karkaroff sending her notes at mealtimes, or interrupting her various classes to summon her to his office. The cover story they’d come up with was his giving her detailed information on how to make prefect her fifth year. Cait found that she was willing to lie to her other professors, fellow students, friends, and family members about the real purpose behind the meetings, as she could not bring herself to form the words to really describe what was going on between them.

“We’re studying Boggarts in Dark Arts,” Annie reported once the pleasantries were out of the way, and was practically bouncing up and down in her seat. “Professor Gushtanov put himself on the line the other day, and demonstrated what his Boggart was.”

Vlad sneered. “I think I can wager a guess as to what it was...”

Lina cut across him. “You know very well that our betrothal was part of an ancient binding magical contract between houses, Vlad, and that Petar is quite happy in his relationship with Zamir,” she reprimanded gently, before turning back to Annie. “Tell us, darling. What form did Professor Gushtanov’s Boggart take?”

“Sir Skovgaard’s death!” Annie said, whispering in a conspiratory manner. “He was just lying there, before Professor Gushtanov uttered the Counter Curse, and then he became all sprightly and was dancing around the classroom; we all laughed, of course. I guess I didn’t really know how much they meant to one another...”

“You’ll understand when you’re older,” Lina told her older daughter gently, before turning to look at Viktor. “And you, sweetheart? How is your first year going so far? I understand that your letters can only tell us so much.”

“Poliakoff is the greatest friend anyone could ask for!” Viktor replied with a beam, directly mentioning the boy that had been glued to his hip since the first day of term. “He loves flying as much as I do, and he’s the commentator for all the house matches!”

“Igor mentioned a troublesome boy with that name,” Vlad observed softly, with Lina the only one at the table noticing that Cait stiffened at the mention of the headmaster’s name. “I hope you won’t allow him to influence you negatively, Viktor.”

“His table manners certainly leave enough to be desired,” Annie said primly, looking across the hall at Poliakoff’s table, where he, presumably his parents, and three younger sisters sat. Annie then proceeded to wrinkle her nose as Poliakoff noticeably dripped soup onto his jumper, as well as got a smattering of breadcrumbs upon his trousers.

“That’s enough, Anna Maria,” Lina said firmly, and Annie flushed, shamefaced, and quickly lowered her eyes to her own dinner. Lina quickly turned to look at Cait, who sat, rigid in her own chair, and barely picked at her dinner. “Aren’t you hungry, love?” she asked.

“She’s been quiet for weeks,” Viktor said, actually sounding concerned about his sister. “Ever since Bran got back from Durm Selo—by _himself_—things have been different...”

“I thought you were looking forward to your first outing to Durm Selo with Branimir,” Vlad said softly, tearing at his own piece of bread and buttering it. “Surely you didn’t run off before it was completed. That’s not very polite...”

“Vladimir!” Lina said, her voice firm, although she never took her gaze off from her younger daughter, and she felt as if she wanted to tap into her mind, but was met with a series of road blocks, making it impossible. Lina longed to reach out her hand across the table but, judging by the fact that, once her husband had proceeded questioning her daughter, she had wrapped her arms around herself and stared, unseeing, at the surface of the table.

“What did he do to you?”

Cait’s eyes shot upwards at that, at the sound of Vlad speaking, not above a whisper, looking angrily down at her. “W...What?” she whispered.

“Branimir,” he growled, now speaking through his teeth. “Say the word, Cait, and the Aurors will be here within moments to lock him up accordingly.”

Cait blinked, suddenly losing control of breathing as she wrapped her fingers around each other in an effort to have some semblance of control in this situation which had quickly managed to run away from her. “Wh... What? Bran didn’t... He would never...”

“Vlad, you’re scaring her,” Lina reprimanded.

Cait’s eyes snapped shut then, tears trailing down her face as she shivered beneath the scrutiny of her own family.

_“Scared, my little Catherina? Well, there’s no need to be. As soon as you are old enough, the bans will be read, and the betrothal agreement will be signed. Then, you will be mine in truth, my dearest love. However, until then, we’ll have to make do with small touches and kisses. Yes, you must’ve gone years without proper physical affection. Well, leave it to me to instruct you on what true, romantic love can hold...”_

“You know that’s never my intention, Lina,” came Vlad’s quick reply. “I love our daughter as much as you do, and I would never...”

“Tatko, please,” Annie said, cutting him off. “This is supposed to be a wonderful day, not one where children cower. Please...”

“Annie, not now. Lina, I warned you that this could happen. Given their drastic age difference and now the familial relationship they now share, perhaps it would be prudent if Cait and Branimir simply were to share a cousin relationship, as he does with Annie and Viktor. That way, the Board of Governors wouldn’t...”

“You know very well that you can handle all of _them_, Vlad. Besides, none of them have come knocking at home, or at the ministry, informing us of any inappropriate behavior in between Cait or Branimir. And, if you recall, although she has been shaking with fear throughout the duration of your little tirade, Cait has already categorically denied that Branimir has anything to do with her sudden change in behavior...”

_“Fear. Ah, yes, I’m quite sure that you know by now how much people in the dominant role in any given relationship thrive off fear. Feed off it, even. Well, rest assured, my little pet, as a fellow Pureblood, you will never be disrespected throughout the lifetime commitment you give to me, once you are of age. That’s right; just by standing there, saying nothing, and submitting to my ministrations are enough for me to know that you were the right one for me to select.”_

“I don’t care if she denied it, Lina! You know very well that the first mention of her behaving strangely was after her trip to Durm Selo! She had plans with Branimir that afternoon, and was seen by many witnesses—including our son, need I remind you?—running back to Durmstrang after barely an hour of being in the village. Branimir was then witnessed by both Annie and Stefan coming back to the grounds of the school on his own. The patrons of The Babay Bierkeller were very helpful as well, informing me directly that he kissed her, which caused her directly to run out and seek sanctuary back here.”

Lina let out a sharp intake of breath. “You had Aurors following our daughters around the village?! Vlad, how could you?!”

“Tatko! Stefan and I held hands and shared our first kiss! I didn’t want my father to be witness to that, thank you very much!” Annie cried out.

“I only did it for your own protection, Annie. Yes, Stefan comes from an upstanding family, yet it is shrouded in darkness. I had to be sure that you were safe...”

“You _agreed_ to the betrothal agreement, for Merlin’s sake!” Annie shouted. “How can you agree to something and then practically assign bodyguards to watch us?!”

“Annie, while I agree that your father was strictly out of line with his actions, which the two of us _will_ be discussing later, I will not tolerate such language out of you.”

“Lina, forget the discussion and listen to me. Cait ran out of The Babay Bierkeller mere seconds after Branimir kissed her publicly. Not to mention that she set fire to a table...”

Lina gasped slightly then. “Cait, you... You set fire to a table?”

“Hell of a time getting the rest of my department to overlook that one,” Vlad continued, and Lina pursed her lips in impatience. “Underage Magic, while even accidental, is a serious offence. But, back to the matter at hand, I’m quite positive that Branimir is the culprit here. He saw how visibly upset she was, and yet he moved in to kiss her, prompting her to run...”

_“No matter how quickly you run, my darling, I shall always find you. We are bonded by attraction and circumstances. From the moment I saw you in the forest, I knew that our fates and lives would always be tied together. I had no way of knowing that you were destined to be my mate, but I knew you would be something to me. Initially, I thought you were to be my daughter but, when Vladimir and Adelina informed me, yet again, of their difficulties in conceiving a third child, I knew that I had to help my friends in order to preserve the loyalty from such a powerful family. The Baron and Baroness Krum, plus the Archduke and Archduchess Antonov are the most powerful families currently in residence around Bulgaria, and the very fact that they have entered into a betrothal agreement together is astronomical. You know, they initially asked for you, but I explained the benefits of having a biological daughter of the House of Krum would be much better for such an agreement. You should know first-hand, my love, that I never share, or give away, what I deem to be mine.”_

“It has to be a misunderstanding, Vlad. Cait has already explained that Branimir would never do something like that. And, if you recall, we have known the young man since he was a child, as have Annie and Viktor. They know he wouldn’t do such a thing either...”

“That whole portion of my family is shrouded in mystery, as you well know, Lina. I wouldn’t put it past anyone to pull such a thing, in order to get their hands on the dowry.”

“She is not a piece of land or a broodmare, Vlad! She’s our daughter, and I will not have you making this a medieval argument!”

“Stop it!” Cait shouted then, her eyes snapping open, thankful for the Silencing Charm and Repellent Charm that both her parents had put up, just before the argument had gotten too heated for public eyes. “I’ve said that it wasn’t Bran, and you’ll just have to take my word for it! I don’t know what’s wrong with me, okay, but I’m different, and, if you can’t accept that, then just burn my adoption papers and forget all about me!” she cried out, getting promptly to her feet, and charging out of the Stolovaya, without looking back.

. . .

Cait ignored the letters from her family as the rest of first term continued, and did her best to keep her head down. She became worried as Christmas holidays were just around the corner, and wondered if Headmaster Karkaroff would concoct a plan to keep her at Durmstrang. However, as he yet again mauled her in his office a few days before term ended, he informed her that such a thing would be seen as suspicious. He also said that she was doing such a good job at keeping their relationship hidden that seeing her family would be a reward, one he was fully intending upon letting her have.

Cait had lost count of how many times she had forced a smile to her lips but, over the last several weeks, she began to compartmentalize, to the point where Cait and Catherina had become two different people, in her book. Cait was the fun-loving, Quidditch-playing, girlfriend of Branimir and member of the Krum family. Catherina was also a student at Durmstrang, but was unloved and unwanted by everyone, so the headmaster preyed upon her vulnerabilities, that rendered her temporarily mute and unable to fight back.

Branimir didn’t question her recent behavior and seemed altogether pleased to have his girlfriend back at his side. They rode the train together as always back to the station in Sofia for the holidays ahead, with Annie and Stefan whispering to one another about how much they would miss each other, Vasilisa and Viktor in another part of the compartment paying attention to the various familiars crawling about, and Branimir holding onto Cait. Cait permitted the physical affection, as Cait wasn’t the one who was being brutalized by the Headmaster of Durmstrang; no, that was Catherina.

Once the train arrived at the station, Vasilisa attempted to trip Cait, but this was unsuccessful, and went unnoticed by everyone else. Once out of the train, Cait accepted hugs from Vlad, Lina, and Anastasia, while Vasilisa glared at her over her mother’s shoulder. A Portkey separated them from the Bonheur family, while Annie and Stefan gave one another a tentative kiss goodbye, before the Krum family stepped out into the Muggle world and Apparated home. Tessy met them upon arrival, and Cait embraced the house-elf, as soon as she had put Verena down.

“You’ve been doing better lately, I see,” Lina observed as she was saying goodnight to Cait later that evening.

Cait shrugged her shoulders, before reaching down and pulling Verena into her arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Darling, even I know that’s not the case,” Lina said gently, and perched on the side of her younger daughter’s bed. “You made quite a scene at Thanksgiving. Now, I don’t want to pry too much into it without your permission, sweetheart, but your father and I are worried about you. I just want you to know how safe you are.”

_Safe_, Cait thought to herself. Physically, she supposed, she was safe at the moment but, emotionally, her mind was all over the place. Headmaster Karkaroff had mentioned more than once how close he and her parents were. What if he had a break in his school business over the holidays, and came to the Krum residence? What if her home truly became another prison, and he took his abuse to the next level? Then he would...

“Have I lost you?”

Cait looked up at her mother and shook her head, burying her fingers deeper into Verena’s pure-white fur. “No. No, of course not.”

Lina smiled sadly. “Look, love, all I want you to know is that your father and I love you. And no matter what, that will not change.”

Cait clenched her teeth shut at her mother’s words.

_“No one would understand the two of us if we even attempted to explain the relationship to them, you know, which is why it must be kept a secret. You wouldn’t want your mother and father not to love you anymore, would you? Because that’s exactly what would happen, Catherina, if they got wind of what a naughty girl their daughter was being...”_

“You played so well at the final Quidditch match against Vȗtreshno House,” Lina went on, which prompted Cait to focus on her again. “I’m sure Professor Reeves was very disappointed at the loss, but Professor Vulchanova was so pleased at the win. I think, combined with your new broom and Viktor’s agility, you’re aligned to win the Quidditch Cup at the end of term.”

Cait shook her head. “I’m not so sure...”

“What do you mean?”

Cait swallowed. “I think next term is going to be my final one as a Quidditch player.”

“Oh, Cait. Sure, you haven’t been playing as long as Viktor has, and a Seeker and Chaser have very different roles and skills attached to them, but...”

Cait glared at her. “Look, if this is about the expense of my broom, I’ll find a way to pay it back to you, all right?!” she snapped.

Lina visibly drew back at the rough voice that had come out of her youngest daughter. “Darling, it has nothing to do with that at all...”

“Well, I’ve grown tired of it,” Cait said, crossing her arms, causing Verena to dart off the bed and out of the room. “I have a commitment to the team until the end of term, and then I’ll be giving it up for good.”

Lina swallowed. “Vlad told me that, in addition to your lessons with Professor Vulchanova, you’ve also been having regular meetings with Headmaster Karkaroff.”

Cait seethed inwardly at the direct mention of her abuser, but knew she couldn’t say a word about the extent of the meetings. “Yeah?” she demanded. “And what of it?”

“We were wondering why there have been so many this term,” Lina said softly. “Usually, when a child is summoned to the headmaster’s office, there’s something wrong.” She let out an uneasy laugh then. “Vlad had it in his mind that you and Branimir were caught snogging one too many times in the corridors...”

“It’s not that,” Cait said firmly, and the momentary smile was wiped off Lina’s face. “He’s giving me information on how to be a prefect.”

Lina raised her eyebrows. “But, darling, you’re only a third-year...”

“I know what I am!” Cait yelled. “But he says that training in all things pertaining to be a good student—marks, conduct, and the like—can never begin too early. He even suggested me giving up Quidditch so that I can focus on my marks primarily, which will make me an even better candidate for prefect my fifth-year.”

Lina smoothed at Cait’s goose down comforter. “Well, as long as it’s something you want to do, darling. I mean, you can always play Quidditch _and_ be a prefect...”

“I don’t want to do Quidditch anymore! Didn’t you hear me?!” Cait shouted.

Lina nodded her head. “Yes, I heard you, darling, but I didn’t want you to think that you had to sacrifice something you loved in order to be the best, as it were...”

“It doesn’t matter,” Cait snapped, the fire having gone out of her. “I always lose the things I love eventually, don’t I?”

Lina blanched white at that. “Darling, is that where this newfound negative attitude is coming from? You think we’ll just abandon you when you turn seventeen, and turn you out of the house or something?”

Cait shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Darling,” Lina said, taking her hand, “when Vlad and I adopted you a year ago, we became your family forever. That was just the formality, but we knew pretty much immediately that you were going to be a permanent member of the family. And, if the day came and we couldn’t adopt you because some of your family members came forward, well, we fully intended to cross that bridge when we came to it.”

Cait yanked her hand backwards. “Whatever you say.”

“Cait...”

“I’d like to go to bed now,” she said, yanking up her comforter and turning to lie down on her side, away from Lina.

“All right, darling,” Lina said softly, getting to her feet and walking over to the door on unsteady feet. “I love you, Cait.”

Cait sighed, tears blinding her vision. “Yeah, I love you, too...”

“_Nox_,” Lina said quietly, leaving Cait shrouded in darkness.

. . .

The emotional and physical bruises that Headmaster Karkaroff continued to inflict upon Cait for the rest of term constantly unsettled her stomach in the worst possible way. He had informed her more than once that they could not consummate the bond between the two of them until she was ready, although he didn’t seem impatient enough to “take her by force”, as he told her more than once during their “meetings”. Cait knew that, regardless if he deemed her ready or not, she would never be ready in her heart of hearts, and so she began tearfully counting down the days to when she would be raped.

The rest of winter gave way to spring, and Cait was finally in a place where she ceased all lessons with Professor Vulchanova, upon Headmaster Karkaroff’s demand. As he lectured her about closeness to other people outside her family, he informed her that she was now too close to her Magical Theory professor and Head of House. He said that if there was an emergency situation having to do with her powers and abilities, she could see her, but, other than that, she was to report directly to him with any kinds of problems.

_“Don’t fret, darling. You don’t need her, my sweet Catherina. All you need is me, and on the occasions when it is appropriate for you to reach out to your family. Keeping you here during the winter and summer holidays would be seen as too suspicious and, due to your father’s standing in the ministry, it would be dangerous for us both to keep you here with me. I know that you’re warming to me, despite the apparent fear I smell upon you. Never fear, my pet. I shall never force you to spread your legs for me, never. When you are ready to take that step, we shall do so together... It is quite a pity, though... Such a pity, that I may not keep you here with me, now that you carry the name of Krum...”_

Once spring had gone on to the point where the weather was so hot it was only logical to call it summer, term was officially winding down. Cait studied for her final exams, relieved to have a reprieve in her meetings with the headmaster, for he, too wanted to see her getting good marks, for it was all part of their plan to make her prefect. With Branimir helping Vasilisa study for their sixth-year exams, she was also given a break from girlfriend and mortal enemy duties, and, with Annie glued to Stefan’s hip, best friend and sister duties as well.

On the final day of term, Cait gave notice to the Quidditch team, informing the new captain, fifth-year Iliya Balkanski that they would need to find a new Chaser for next term. Although disappointed, Iliya understood, given her pursuit for prefect, although he, too believed that such a pursuit was premature. Regardless, Cait finished the last of her final exams on that day, and was summoned to the headmaster’s office before she was due to get on the train and return home for the summer holidays.

“Come in, Catherina.”

Ignoring the sensation of her skin crawling at the use of her full name, Cait stepped inside the office and stepped out of the way of the door, which automatically swung shut behind her. She remained rooted to the spot, waiting for the customary grope fest she would be subjected to, as she always seemed to be. She didn’t have to wait long, with the headmaster trailing across the office towards her, and moving up to stand behind her, gently moving her hair out of the way—which he had ordered her never to put into two braids again, and instead declared that she had to wear it down—and pressed his lips to her neck.

“How was your final day?”

“Very well, headmaster,” Cait said, her voice without emotion. “I spoke directly with Iliya, and informed him that he would need to find another Chaser for next term.”

“Very good,” the headmaster replied, slipping his free hand down the length of her body, and moved to cup one of her breasts. “And what was his reaction?”

“He was disappointed, understandably so, as it makes more work for him in the long-run, but he said that he understood,” Cait managed to get out.

“Naturally,” Headmaster Karkaroff said, extending his thumb and index finger, in order to pinch at Cait’s nipple. “Tell me how your final exam went.”

“Charms went quite well, thank you,” Cait responded, amid bile threatening to rise in her throat at the headmaster’s hands upon her.

“I expect you to get O’s or E’s in each subject,” he said gruffly, and squeezed at her nipple for a moment before twisting it. “You would not like the results otherwise.”

“I can assure you I will do quite well, sir,” she said softly.

“Very good. Confidence, I like it,” he said, smiling to himself as he soothed the ache in her nipple, which seemed to be his favorite places upon her body to manipulate. “Pity that we cannot do more than this,” he said, pressing a series of kisses upon her neck.

“Something about the legality of the union?” she managed to get out, amid her insides squirming in protest at the dual assault.

“Hmm, yes,” he said softly. “Which is why I could not keep the last young woman in your place, unfortunately...”

Cait felt every hair upon her body stand up at the unexpected declaration. “The last young woman in my place?” she breathed.

Karkaroff chuckled then, moving so that he was facing Cait. “You certainly didn’t believe that you were the first young woman I tested out, were you?”

Cait bit her lip. “I...” She whispered, lowering her eyes.

“You didn’t think on it, I see,” Karkaroff said with a stiff nod. “Well, to answer you unanswered question, my Catherina, no. You are not the first young woman whom I tested out to see if they were truly my soul mate. Unfortunately, this other young woman was much too tempting and, even though I promised her the world, such a union would not be granted, since I had her before the contract could be drawn up properly.”

Cait’s mouth went dry. “What... What are you saying?”

Karkaroff smiled and patted her cheek, before he turned around and meandered back over to his desk, and sat behind it. “I think the train is due to leave within the hour. You’d best hurry up, before I change my mind and decide to keep you here.”

Cait gave a stiff nod and turned back towards the door. “Thank you, sir. Have a good holiday, sir,” she said quietly.

“Oh, and Catherina?”

Cait swiveled around to face the man. “Headmaster?” she asked softly.

“I am terribly sorry about Vasilisa’s treatment of you, since I’ve given you all of these meetings and attention,” he said, a sappy smile upon his lips.

Cait blinked. “You know about that?”

The headmaster chuckled. “I am Headmaster of Durmstrang, my Catherina. It is my business to know such things.”

Cait lowered her eyes. “Yes, I see.”

“It is mere jealousy, I assure you, which will go away in time.”

Cait’s eyes snapped upwards then. “Jealousy? But what possible reason would she have to be jealous of me, sir?”

“You and Vasilisa are following quite similar paths, my dear Catherina,” the headmaster said condescendingly, as the grandfather clock chimed the hour. “Oh, my. Looks as if you’ll have to hurry along to make the train, Catherina.”

Cait nodded, and placed her hand upon the door, opening it.

“And Catherina?” he asked, as Cait turned around one last time. “I look forward to seeing you in the autumn. Perhaps you will be ready then,” he said, a dark, sinister laugh passing through his lips, as Cait stumbled out of his office, and somehow made her way to her common room to fetch all her belongings for the train.


	7. Live To Tell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) All the things with Karkaroff come to a head in this chapter. You have been warned.
> 
> (2) The title is from the Madonna song of the same name, which was released in the mid-1980s, the same time as this chapter takes place. Give it a listen, as I think it really encapsulates Cait's journey at this point in her life. Be sure to check out the "radio edit", however, as I believe it is the stronger version of the song.

Cait threw herself down onto her bed in her lavish bedroom at the seaside cottage upon the family’s arrival that summer. Vlad had pressing matters with his department at the ministry, and so had been unable to join them until the first of July. Lina had somehow managed to get Annie, Cait, and Viktor to fall in line, with all of their familiars in tow. Annie had immediately gone up to her bedroom to send off a quick note to Stefan, so as to let him know that they’d all arrived safely, and that she was missing him already. Viktor, after helping Tessy unpack—which mainly involved him letting her know what he wanted where, because Tessy refused any other form of assistance—took Roderick out onto the massive beach, after Lina had placed Concealment Charms upon him so that unsuspecting Muggles wouldn’t see anything “off” about him. This just left Cait, lying on her bed on the second floor, absentmindedly stroking at Verena, and wanting all of this to be over.

“Cait, love?”

Cait forced herself to sit up. She’d hardly eaten anything since their arrival, and was content—as content as she could be, that is—to lie on her bed since their arrival. Verena would let herself out when time was necessary to do so to hunt, and so she hadn’t had to do much of anything. Cait looked at the worried expression in Lina’s eyes, and felt a lump arising in her throat as she automatically drew her knees underneath her chin.

“Yes?” she asked, her tone stiff and hoarse from lack of use.

“Vlad’s anxious to see you. He’s been here since this morning, and he’s wondering why you haven’t been downstairs.” Lina cocked an eyebrow at her younger daughter’s appearance. “Are those the clothes you came here in?”

Cait lowered her eyes at the knee-length skirt and flowy summer blouse that she had thought were so pretty when she had seen them in a catalogue the summer before, and had been delighted when Vlad and Lina had bought them for her. She had grown into them very well, and her breasts were creeping up considerably above the almost too-low neckline of the blouse, while her legs curved exceptionally well beneath the skirt, as did the rest of her body, having attained the ever-so-desirable hourglass figure. Yes, Cait had neglected to change them, due to her fear of returning to Durmstrang next term; now that it was July, the weeks were going to go by considerably quickly, she knew, and so the outcome of what she knew the headmaster would do to her would come sooner rather than later.

“Cait?”

Cait cleared her throat. “Sorry. Just not feeling it today...”

Lina’s brow puckered then as she stepped into the bedroom, and shut the door behind her. She took in the way Cait’s body language changed at the sound of the door shutting, and she almost automatically feared the worst. “I know something has to be going on...”

Cait looked up, following her mother’s trek from the edge of the bedroom until she sat upon the foot of her bed. “Do you?”

“It’s not difficult to do so, darling,” she responded in that gentle tone of hers. “You hardly eat, you never sleep, you get angry at the slightest provocation...”

“I do not!” Cait shouted.

Lina raised her eyebrows. “My point exactly.”

Cait reached behind her and drew one of her pillows into her arms, clutching it to her chest, inadvertently creating a physical barrier between herself and her mother. “And what the hell do you know?” she muttered.

“I know what it is like to be a teenage girl, when things are frustrating and beyond confusing, to the point where you just want to scream,” Lina replied, and Cait raised her eyebrows. “The point is, darling, that we end up pushing away the people that want to help us, and we sometimes end up letting in the very people who are out to hurt us.”

Cait lowered her eyes, picking at a loose thread upon her pillowcase. “I suppose that that has the capability of being true some of the time...”

Lina hesitated, obviously wanting to reach out and touch her daughter, but didn’t want her to shrink back and throw her out, not when they were finally having a dialogue. “Has someone been hurting you, love?” she asked softly.

Cait gripped the pillow hard and clenched her teeth to prevent herself from coming completely undone at the question. “Yes,” she said, barely above a whisper.

“Oh, darling,” Lina said, still wanting more than anything to hold her daughter, but made no move to do so. “Can you tell me who?”

Cait shook her head, halfway burying her face in the pillow. “No. No, I can’t...”

“Please, love,” Lina begged her. “No matter who it is, or what they’ve done... Sometimes people who think they’re in positions of power claim to know the motivations of the people in the lives of the person they are manipulating. Did this person imply that your father and I wouldn’t love you anymore if you told us what was happening?”

Cait shook her head, hating herself for protecting _him_, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so otherwise. “No. It’s... It’s not a man,” she whispered.

“Is that why your lessons with Professor Vulchanova stopped so quickly?”

Cait’s eyes flew towards her mother’s then, and she vehemently shook her head. “No, it wasn’t Professor Vulchanova, it’s Lisa! Lisa’s hurting me!” she shouted, the name falling from her lips before she could even attempt to call it back.

Lina’s eyes darkened immediately then. “Lisa is hurting you?” she asked, her voice having a dark edge to it, one Cait had never heard before.

Cait bit her lip; of course, Vasilisa’s treatment of her was trivial, compared what Headmaster Karkaroff was putting her through, but, she reasoned, things would certainly be easier if the sister of her boyfriend treated her better... “Yes,” Cait replied, shoulders deflating. “She refuses to talk to me, and when she does acknowledge my presence, all she does is glare at me. She also tries to trip me, and has pinched me more than once... Things all started getting worse at my thirteenth birthday party, when Bran and I kissed for the first time. I know that, since they’re twins and stuff, that she likely wants to protect Bran, but it’s enough now. Her childish behavior has turned violent, and I just don’t know what to do anymore...”

Lina shook her head and sighed. “Well, she certainly doesn’t have to speak with you if she truly doesn’t want to, but the other things I will not stand for,” she said resolutely, getting to her feet with a nod. “I’ll write Professor Vulchanova at once, and have Tessy personally deliver the note to her. Perhaps she can speak to Anastasia in an effort to figure out what’s gotten in to Lisa, in that she thinks she’s allowed to treat you however she likes.”

Cait nodded, hoping that the plan would work. “Are the Cloaking Spells still up and around the water down on the beach?” she asked.

Lina nodded. “Of course they are, darling.”

Cait nibbled at her bottom lip. “Would it be all right if I blew off some steam and used my powers, or went for a swim, let my tail out a little?”

Lina smirked slightly at Cait’s attempt at humor. “Of course you can, my love. I’m sure that it’ll help whatever stress or negativity you’re feeling.” Leaning forward and kissing her daughter’s forehead, Lina moved to leave the room, while Cait went to jump in the shower before she would make her way down to the beach.

. . .

Cait stumbled into the dormitory on the first night of her fourth-year; her robes were torn, and she still felt Headmaster Karkaroff’s hands ripping at them, in order to “get a look at the goods of his future wife”. Cait remembered, as she painstakingly repaired her robes where her dorm mates wouldn’t see them, how Vasilisa had come into the dorm in a similar state some time ago, and her heart ached for her. Shaking her head and quickly stepping towards the shower, she grimaced at her reflection in one of the mirrors.

Her body was riddled with bruises already, and bite marks, as well as several hickeys, all from the headmaster himself. Bile rose in her throat then as she stumbled towards the loo, falling to her knees and emptying what she had managed to eat for dinner into it, somehow managing to put Concealment Charms upon her skin. Gripping the sides of the porcelain basin and attempting to see through her tears, she considered the developments of the evening, and wondered at the notion that, in the space of less than three months, how the man who called himself the Headmaster of Durmstrang had escalated so quickly.

While the kisses and touches had lasted so long, tonight, he had insisted upon seeing more skin than he had in the past. It had sickened Cait, truly, and, when she had refused to move to do his bidding, he had become impatient, and had torn at her robes. The sound of her robes tearing was reminiscent of that of a dagger slicing through flesh, and Cait had remained still until he had managed to feast his eyes on what it was he’d wanted to see.

Her eyes shut then, remembering his expression as being one of triumph when he had laid eyes upon her breasts for the first time. Sure, he had held them, stroked them, pinched them, squeezed them, and done Merlin knew what else to them in the past several months. But, on that night, it was the first time he had truly _seen_ them, without Cait’s robes or other articles of clothing blocking them from his view. His expression turned to one of hunger then as he had dipped his head, delivering a possessive and painful bite to each nipple, causing Cait to cry out in pain, although she had forced herself not to cry at the attack.

It was a humiliating experience, as the man had begun talking about them from the moment she had entered his office just moments before. He complimented them, much to Cait’s embarrassment, informing her that he was delighted at how much they had grown over the summer months. While he was true in the accurateness of his assessment, as they had decided to grow bigger throughout July and August, it was still something that made Cait’s cheeks flame as she avoided eye contact with the man.

He had then stormed across the room towards her to feel them, and Cait wondered if he’d initially believed that she had padded her chest, as Cait knew was a common practice with young teenagers. Cait forced herself to stand still and not shrink back from his advancement upon her, a lump arising in her throat as he lifted his hands to caress them. Deliberately continuing to avoid eye contact with him, she answered his questions about her summer holidays in a monotone, not even bringing up her parents’ worries about her powers and abilities, which had grown more erratic than ever as the weeks went by.

A clang from the door to the bathroom opening caused Cait to scramble to her feet, banishing both the vomit and its smell from the area. She plastered a smile onto her face as Annie stepped in, smirking at the notion that Cait was naked and obviously about to step into the shower. Cait shook her head at her sister, selecting a shower at random and moving towards it, knowing that her sister was likely back late from more time with Stefan.

“He’s a wonderful young man,” Annie informed her, as she stripped off, selecting the shower beside Cait and slipping into it herself.

Cait rolled her eyes. “Oh, I don’t know... You’re different since you’ve been seeing him,” she said quietly, recalling how Annie had seemed to become much more interested in appearance and fashion as time had gone on.

“Yes, I know I’ve grown a bit more shallow,” she admitted, shrugging her shoulders, which were not nearly as milk-white as Cait’s were. “However, the Antonov’s demand a certain amount of propriety when it comes right down to it. I’m only listening to Alena’s words of advice that she herself had to follow from Stefan’s grandmother, Gennadiya, when she was in the running during the formal courtship person.”

Cait dunked her head beneath the hot water, preparing to wash it. “Well, an archduchess outranks a baron,” she said with a smirk.

Annie gleamed at the declaration. “I know, it does, doesn’t it?” she asked, permitting her flowing hair to cascade like a waterfall down her back as she proceeded to wash it with expert fingers. “I have it on good authority that the Antonov’s are going to ask me to Antonov Acres for the Christmas holidays.”

Cait raised her eyebrows. “I always thought that noble or royal families didn’t permit such outward gatherings until an engagement happened. And, of course, you know as well as I do that neither of you can enter into a formal engagement until the both of you have reached the age of sixteen, and cannot marry until you’re seventeen.”

Annie shrugged her curved shoulders and continued washing her hair. “Oh, I don’t know. We’ve already signed the courtship contract, as you well know. I think that’s enough formality for the archduke and the archduchess.”

“What are you expected to call them?” Cait queried as she rinsed her hair. “I mean, you can hardly stick out your hand and say, ‘Hey, Michail, hey, Alena.’”

Annie giggled at the very idea of being so informal with her future in-laws. “No, of course I can’t do that. I have to curtsy, of course, and wait to speak until spoken to, as they outrank me considerably, of course. Then, when given leave to do so, I must address them as ‘my lord archduke’ and ‘my lady archduchess’, until such a time as they permit me to address them in a more informal manner.”

“Does Stefan have a title?” Cait wanted to know.

“Of course he does,” Annie told her, sniffing slightly as she dunked her own hair beneath the stream of water a second time, and rinsed it out. “He is what’s known as a knyaz.”

Cait whipped around and regarded Annie. “Which is?”

“A prince, duke, or count, likely the latter, given that it is significantly lower enough from that of an archduke,” Annie explained.

Cait nodded, methodically continuing to wash the soap from her hair, before she turned about and began to wash at her body, wincing as she went over the particularly bad areas. “Are you looking forward to it?”

“To what?”

“Marrying Stefan, and producing heirs,” Cait replied, looking over her shoulder at her sister with a small smile.

“Oh, well, of course.”

“Do you love him?”

“I think I could, but I am unsure as of yet.”

Cait felt her smile falter than as she lowered her eyes. “Well, as long as he is good to you, and you are happy, I believe it will be a good match.”

“And you and Bran?”

Cait looked up at her, perplexed. “What about us?”

“Are you still together?”

Cait flushed at the rather enthusiastic welcome she had received from him just before the welcoming feast had begun, which had likely triggered the headmaster’s stake to his supposed claim upon her later that night. “Yes,” she said softly. “We’re still together.”

“How far have you gotten?”

Cait flushed more deeply as she turned off the shower and stumbled out of it, summoning a towel with a wave of her hand. “Um, what...? What are you talking about?” she asked shakily, as she wrapped the soft linen around her.

Annie followed her out of her own shower, and casted a Drying Spell on both their hair, so as to prevent breakage during sleep. “Oh, I don’t know. You’ve been together for such a long time, it seems. I just wondered what you’d done.”

“Snogging, mostly,” Cait replied with a shrug. “He’s touched me, here,” she said, waving around her chest area, and felt guilty that Branimir wasn’t the only one who had touched it.

“Do you enjoy it?”

Cait shrugged as she went up to her assigned sink and mirror, making a grab for her comb and began untangling her hair. “Yes, I suppose so... And you and Stefan?”

Annie flushed a becoming pink and grinned at Cait. “Don’t tell anyone, but we’ve done quite a bit,” she said with a giggle.

Cait blinked. “What have you...?”

Annie giggled and stuck out her tongue at Cait, who immediately figured it out. “We did _that_ shortly before getting on the train at the end of last term,” she said smartly. “We can’t do much else, as it would nullify the betrothal contract, but...”

“Did _you_ enjoy it?”

“Oh, yes. It was lovely,” Annie said with a shrug.

“He did reciprocate, didn’t he?”

“Of course he did!” Annie said, putting one hand on her hip as she used the other to pull her own comb through her hair. “What do you take him for? He’s not inconsiderate when it comes to being a good lover, Cait.”

“He makes you happy, then?”

“Yes, I believe I already stated as such,” Annie said shortly, finishing with her hair and putting it into a braid. “Want me to do yours?”

“No!” Cait cried out then, pulling back and away from Annie.

Annie pursed her lips in a pout. “I’m not the only one who’s changed...”

“What... What are you talking about?” Cait asked, fetching her nightgown from one of the pegs by the door, and hastily putting it on.

“When you informed me of my changes earlier, you neglected to mention that you yourself have changed as well, Cait,” Annie told her, a hint of impatience in her voice. “You’re withdrawing again, and you’re terribly quiet, staying out at all hours without your boyfriend. Bran even asked me where you were when I came to drop my things off before I went to meet with Stefan after the welcoming feast.”

Cait’s mouth went dry as she tied the silk ribbon upon her nightgown at the base of her throat, and found that her hands were trembling. “Bran... Bran was looking for me?”

“Of course he was looking for you!” Annie said, growing steadily more impatient now as she took her own nightgown off the hook. “He’s your boyfriend, has been for nearly two years, and yet he claims you hardly have a spare moment for him.”

“I make time for him, Annie...”

“He says that things have been strained ever since you ran off from your first-ever trip from Durm Selo, and that you refused to go again with him,” Annie continued. “In fact, he says that it feels as if you don’t want to be alone with him, and that you only want to be seen with him in public. It’s like you’re ashamed of what could happen, were you alone...”

_The only person I’m ashamed of is me_, Cait thought to herself, before plastering a smile onto her lips and shaking her head. “I just want to focus on making prefect next year, all right?” Her eyebrows knit together then. “You don’t have any issues with that, do you?”

“No issues with it whatsoever,” Annie said softly. “I’d rather focus on keeping up my marks and my courtship with Stefan, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Good, that’s good,” Cait said with a nod.

“Look, Cait,” Annie said, stepping forward and placing her hand on Cait’s arm, which caused her sister to stiffen. “I don’t know what all this is, or what’s really going on here, but I know it can’t just be about Lisa’s treatment of you.”

Cait felt herself blanching at that. “You know about that?”

“Well, I’m not completely blind, and Lisa may have told me about the letter from Lelya Anastasia that Professor Vulchanova sent to her last summer on Máyka’s behalf,” she said softly with a shrug.

Cait sighed, shutting her eyes. “How bad was it?”

“Lisa was livid—you’re lucky that Headmaster Karkaroff summoned you for another meeting after the feast...” Annie cut herself off then, and Cait’s eyes snapped open. “You weren’t with him the entire time, were you?”

Cait vehemently shook her head, and dragged herself backwards. “No! No, of course not. I went to the library for a while...”

Annie’s dark brows knit together at that. “Funny. I didn’t see you, and Stefan and I went there to get some peace and quiet after the loudness of the feast...”

Cait felt her throat go dry. “I... I was there, I swear to Merlin...”

“Cait, you can talk to me if something’s going on,” Annie said, her tone almost desperate as she cautiously stepped towards her sister, as one might do to a frightened animal. “You know that don’t you? That you can talk to me...”

“There’s nothing to talk about...”

“Cait, you’re avoiding everyone and everything as time goes on!” Annie cried out, her worry giving way to exasperation. “All I know is, none of us want to lose you!”

“If none of you want to lose me, then you’ll just leave me alone and let me work out whatever this is on my own!” Cait snapped, charging towards the door to the bathroom, and let herself into the bedroom, her face heating immediately as she saw that all her dorm mates had likely head the commotion behind the door. Tossing her towel into the basket, Cait promptly walked over to her bed, got in it, and pulled the curtains, rendering her discussion with Annie, and all potential future discussions, over for the evening.

. . .

Cait had held the resentment within her for the last several weeks, which had come to a head upon Thanksgiving, when Vlad and Lina demanded to know what was really going on in Cait’s head. Worried, especially because the very man who was causing the change in her behavior was on the other side of the room, Cait, yet again, kept her mouth shut. She could feel his eyes boring into the back of her skull throughout the duration of the meal, and she was barely able to eat anything at all because of it.

Cait dreaded the month of December as it arrived; although she was fifteen now, and would normally have been looking forward to the upcoming holidays, something held her back. She felt as if there was something brewing upon the horizon, and she didn’t even know where to begin with the disorganization of her thoughts. The headmaster had been even more erratic in his behavior lately, and she knew full well that there would be a form of a final goodbye to something during the last week of term, she just didn’t know what.

After breakfast on Tuesday morning, with Cait barely chewing on a piece of toast, she got a letter from the headmaster, summoning her to his office. The schedules were different during the last week of each term, with two to three final examinations taking place during that time. That day, she, Annie, and Stefan had herbology, Dark Arts, and potions, scheduled for ten, one, and four that day. It was barely after the eighth hour that morning, meaning that she supposedly had plenty of time to see to whatever the headmaster’s needs were before her first exam.

With a quick kiss to Branimir’s cheek and ignoring the shock she had elicited from her boyfriend due to the momentary physical contact, she left the Stolovaya and went directly to the headmaster’s office. The granit oak door, which she had passed through so many times, was the same imposing figure it always had been, and, when it came open at her touch, it left way for yet another imposing figure. Cait stood where she had always been directed, and the door swung shut behind her, with the headmaster not yet looking up, as he was bent over some important-looking parchments upon the surface of his desk.

He looked up after a few moments and smiled to himself, signing his name with a flourish to something before he got to his feet and crossed over to Cait. “Good morning, my Catherina. Are you all prepared for you examinations today?”

Cait gave a stiff nod. “Yes, headmaster.”

“Remind me, please, of what the subjects are.”

“Herbology, Dark Arts, and potions, headmaster.”

“Ah, well, yes. Given your excellent marks last term in all of your classes, I need not remind you of the potential consequences, should the opposite happen.”

Cait shook her head, focusing on a swatch of wall behind the desk. “No, headmaster.”

The headmaster took ahold of her arm and twisted it backwards; Cait gritted her teeth in an effort to keep from crying out, as the headmaster enacted his fantasy of making her a physical puppet, all for his sick benefit. “What’s this I hear about you kissing Branimir?”

Cait continued gritting her teeth, until she focused enough to speak clearly without a pain-filled voice. “People are growing suspicious, headmaster. I didn’t want the suspicions to go further than they already have.”

The headmaster gave a nod, and temporarily soothed the ache in her smarting arm. “Good, very good, Catherina. We wouldn’t want people sticking their noses where they don’t belong.” His fingertips trailed along her robes, and considered something for a moment. “Take off your outer robes and put them onto the visitor’s chair.”

Cait, although her heart was hammering and her mind was screaming for her not to do it, took off her outer robes and draped them carefully upon the chair, before returning to stand, rigid, upon the rug, in the same position as she had been previously.

“Good job, Catherina. Now, unbutton your blouse as far as it will go, remove your vest, and take off your blouse.”

With trembling fingers, Cait obeyed, the buttons easily going through their holes, before they met with the flannel material of the vest. Lowering her hands, she took ahold of the hem of her vest and pulled it easily over her head. Next, she continued unbuttoning her blouse and took it off slowly, before putting both articles of clothing onto the visitor’s chair.

“Very nice,” the headmaster said, his voice dripping with approval as he took in the sight of Cait standing there, wearing her bra, skirt, tights, and school shoes. He whipped out his wand and banished her tights, and Cait’s face flamed when she realized that he had also banished her underwear as well. He tossed his wand onto his desk and prowled towards her then, and slammed her up against the wall.

Suddenly finding her voice, Cait whispered, “What are you doing?”

Igor Karkaroff smirked at the bewilderment in his pet’s voice. “Nothing that you don’t wish me to do, my Catherina, I assure you.”

“Wait, wait, please,” Cait begged him as he reached behind her back and unhooked her bra, which fell to the floor quickly. She let out an uncomfortable noise as he took both of her breasts into his hands, kneading them casually, as he stuck his leg between her legs, thus rendering her practically pinned to the wall.

“Do not make me bind you, pet—your skin, I feel, is far to delicate to handle the snares,” he said with a filthy look. Continuing the knead one of her breasts, he unzipped his trousers and hiked up her skirt, before he positioned himself before her.

Cait’s mind was going a mile a minute as she stared down at him. “But... But the betrothal agreement,” she said softly, knowing full well that she was grasping at straws, but she would do anything to distract him. “You said that it—”

“I never wanted to marry you, you stupid girl!” the headmaster said, truly speaking in an evil voice for the first time. “I just wanted to get you trusting and obedient enough to render you completely useless!” he declared, before shoving himself inside Cait.

“_No_!” Cait cried out then, the scream tearing from her throat, and would have continued to do so, were it not for the headmaster dropping her other breast and smashing the palm of his hand, hard, upon her mouth, cutting off the sound. _No, no, no_, her mind continued to rage, as he pistoned his hips and took her, brutally hard, knocking her repeatedly against the wall.

“Oh, how I’ve longed for this moment,” he groaned, his breath hot and nauseating against her neck, which caused Cait to squirm, only for him to block both her mouth and nose. “You scream or move,” he said, whipping his gaze upwards to lock their eyes, “I’ll give you something _really_ worth screaming about. We clear?”

Cait nodded, her vision blinding with tears as the man continued his wicked way.

“As I said,” he grunted, going faster than ever, which truly seemed to tear at her insides, “you’re not the first girl I got into trusting me... Why do you think Vasilisa hates you so much?”

Cait felt something slamming from within her then; sure, she had guessed it, but actually having such a thing confirmed was sickening.

“I couldn’t wait anymore to keep a little piece of you with me forever,” he said, and then, his hips stopped for a moment, before picking up speed. “Oh, Merlin, yes!” he suddenly shouted, and Cait was filled with something warm, which made bile rise in her throat. Finally, he pulled out of her, and Cait was amazed that her knees didn’t buckle and send her crashing to the floor of the office. Karkaroff summoned a vial from behind his desk, which he declared was Blood-Replenishing Potion, and handed it over to Cait. He waved his wand, which cleared away the blood dripping down her legs, and nodded his head. “Get some rest before your exam, and drink that, plus this,” he said, handing over a Pepper-Up. “Now _go_.”

Cait didn’t need telling twice. She gathered up her things, relieved that he had, at the very least, permitted her to dress before departing. Once she was dressed, she hid the potion bottles in her robes beside her wand and took off at the run towards the Doblest dormitory. Her heart was heavy in her throat, knowing quite well that a part of the headmaster would always be with her now, and such a thought haunted her to no end.

. . .

Cait had seen the expressions upon Vlad and Lina’s faces upon arrival in the stands for the final Quidditch game of first term. They were likely reeling from the letter that Annie had sent to them the night before, about how Cait had been bleeding all day long and couldn’t stop. As a final bit of revenge, Cait hadn’t taken the Blood Replenishing Potion; instead, she had stocked up on sanitary products, taken the Pepper-Up, and gone to her exams. She’d held on until the final question in her potions exam, turned it in, whereupon she collapsed, and had to be carried back to her dormitory, when it was revealed that it wasn’t anything too serious.

Because of this, while Cait was unconscious and fading in and out, Annie quickly penned a letter about the day’s events to their parents. Cait, whenever she had an ounce of strength to spare, would open her eyes and beg Annie not to send the letter. However, all her attempts were done in vain, and there she was, standing in the bleachers, just twenty minutes before the match was about to begin, staring at her parents from across the way. They were in heavy conversation with the headmaster, which caused something to snap from within Cait at how chummy the three of them were, which directly caused her to storm from the stands.

“Cait!” Annie cried out then, running after her onto the grounds, close by to where the greenhouses for herbology were. “Cait, wait, please! Just listen—!”

“Oh, I am _through_ with listening!” Cait yelled back, whirling around and rounding on her sister in one movement. “How could you send that letter?!”

Annie threw her gloved hands up into the air. “Because I’m _worried _about you, Cait! We all are—Tatko, Máyka, Viktor, Bran, even Stefan!” she said, tears coming out of her eyes and freezing upon her cheeks. “Do you even realize how much blood you lost yesterday?”

Cait crossed her arms. “One Blood-Replenishing Potion was enough to stop it.”

“Yes, of course it was,” Annie said, her tone encroaching into desperation territory. “But what I don’t understand is why I found another bottle of the stuff underneath your mattress.”

Cait flushed and turned to walk away. “None of your business...”

“Stop, just stop!” Annie cried, stumbling through the snow after her sister and placing a hand upon her shoulder. “We used to be so close... What happened? Have I done something to make you hate me that you won’t even tell me if you’re in trouble?!”

Cait turned and looked at Annie over her shoulder. “I’m not in—!”

“Why are you lying?!” Annie demanded, sobbing outwardly now. “I’m your best friend, and I was that before I ever became your sister! Why would you continue to categorically deny that there’s something going on with you?!”

“There’s nothing going on with—”

“Is the headmaster doing this?!” Annie hissed, gritting her teeth, which directly caused Cait to shiver beneath her glare. “He is, isn’t he? He’s systematically cut you off from everyone and everything you hold dear! It all makes sense now... He _made_ you quit Quidditch on the pretense of meetings to benefit your chances of making prefect your fifth-year. He prevented you, likely out of your justifiable fear, from telling Tatko and Máyka about all that he’s been doing to you behind closed doors. And he cut you off from exploring your relationship with Bran further because the very touch of a man likely drives you mad with flashbacks!”

“He didn’t do anything to me!” Cait shouted. “Just leave me alone, Annie! Because you’re so wrapped up with perfect Stefan... Go. Go back to him and continue your courtship, then accept his proposal when it comes. Marry him and have lots of babies with the Antonov name, and live at Antonov Acres, and be a goddamned archduchess—see if I care about integrity then!”

“Cait...” Annie whispered, her lower lip trembling as she began to sob again. “Please... Please, just talk to me...”

“I’m through with talking!” Cait yelled back. “Leave me alone. I’ll see you on the train on Friday afternoon, but don’t even _think_ about talking to me sooner,” she thundered, before turning on her heel and walking away from her.

As she walked on the grounds of Durmstrang, she met up with Verena, who joined her after her mid-morning hunt. Just as Cait bent down to envelope her familiar in her arms, she felt a flash of unfamiliar magic around her. Slowly turning around, she saw an unfamiliar wizard, who was staring right at her, which caused her heart to squeeze in her chest as he raised his wand.

Just as the red light of the Stunning Spell came out of the wand, Verena launched herself out of Cait’s arms, effectively knocking her backwards and away from the trajectory. It was in that moment that she tackled the assailant, his wand falling into the snow, as she went for his throat without preamble. Cait, meanwhile, fell backwards into the snow, her head hitting a particularly jagged rock, as the redness of her blood gushed forth from the new wound, and damaged the perfect white that once was around her.


	8. Prisoner of Conscience

Cait awoke in a bedroom somewhere reminiscent of a centuries-old inn, and quickly noticed that her wand had been taken. Thankfully, she realized that Verena was still with her, and the feline quickly launched herself onto the bed her mistress was currently occupying. Cait was dressed in a long nightgown, similar to the one she wore in the dormitory at Durmstrang...

Cait’s thoughts immediately went to the past several hours, or days, for she had no idea when or were she was. The room she was in was plenty warm, and she was relieved to discover that she was not tied to the bed in any way. Easing the furred coverlet out of the way, she tentatively crossed the floor, the old wooden floorboards creaking beneath her feet, and moved the curtain of one of the windows out of the way. Outside, the world was covered with snow, and there were several wooden buildings around them. It reminded her of Durm Selo, but Cait was quick to realize that they weren’t in Bulgaria, especially when a sign declared the area to be called _Diagon Alley_, leading her to assume that they were in England.

Stumbling backwards from the window, she wrapped her arms around herself, a lump rising in her throat at the predicament she found herself in. The wizard who had attacked her on the grounds of Durmstrang had obviously bested her in the fight when she had cracked her head open upon the rock. Reaching up, she sensed that the skin where her head had split was still tender, but had been healed. Attempting to recall the lectures about international traveling in her various classes at Durmstrang, she figured that International Apparition, International Flooing, or an International Portkey had been utilized to get her to England.

A crack suddenly disturbed her reverie, and she spotted a house-elf standing there, tray in one hand, and a dress over the other arm. The elf set the tray down on a table beside the fireplace, and placed the dress inside the wardrobe, before it bowed to Cait. “Mistress is to have some breakfast and dress herself. Will mistress be wanting a bath and some teeth cleaning instruments?” the small being asked.

Cait swallowed. “Y-yes. Yes, please,” she managed to get out, her voice hoarse.

“Very good,” the elf said with a small bow, before cracking away.

Cait stumbled forward, relieved when the bath, with steaming hot water, arrived for her, along with numerous bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, alongside a plethora of soft-looking towels. Another crack issued throughout the room, with teeth cleaning instruments, a basin, and pitcher appearing upon the vanity table on the other side of the room. With a final crack, a few small fish appeared on a platter, with a bowl of water beside them, and Verena let out a contented meow and charged forward, partaking in her own morning meal.

Cait detected a Stasis Charm upon the bath water, and so she decided to eat her breakfast before she took a bath. Rolling her shoulders, she pulled out a chair at the two-person table in the center of the room, and began putting eggs, sausages, and breakfast potatoes onto her plate. She next poured herself a cup of tea, the leaves and steam wafting into her nostrils and giving her a prolonging sense of calm, one she had not felt in such a long time. Setting her napkin onto her lap and taking up her fork, she proceeded to eat her breakfast slowly, not wanting to potentially upset her stomach by shoveling it in her face.

Once she’d finished her breakfast, the dishes disappeared, presumably downstairs to where the kitchen was, and she cast a non-verbal Cleaning Charm upon her hands. Getting to her feet and taking off her nightgown, she placed the article of clothing onto the chair before stepping into the tub, the nightgown disappeared, likely to the laundry, as Cait sank into the hot water. It soothed the aches in her muscles, and she tilted her head back, before lifting the small cup which had been brought, deciding she’d better wash her hair.

Once she had finished washing her hair and was lolling her head back in the water, which was filled to the brim and came with a thick layer of bubbles, she was shocked when the door to her room came open, and felt her face flushing immediately as she automatically pulled the bubbles closer to her. Verena, who had gone onto one of the window sills to clean herself in the wake of her breakfast, immediately began growling low in her throat at the appearance of the stranger. It didn’t take Cait long to deduce that this stranger, who had shut the door behind him, was, in actuality, the unfamiliar wizard who had taken her from Durmstrang.

“Don’t worry,” he said offhandedly as he crossed the room and looked over the things that she had requested, before he nodded in approval. “I don’t touch the merchandise.”

Cait bit down hard on her bottom lip; she hated being described as property, but, more than that, she was amazed to discover that the man spoke English. “Who are you?” she asked, her voice soft, not wanting to potentially overstep.

“Rosier,” he said with a shrug, turning back around to face Cait. “Evan Rosier.”

Cait let out a squeak at the name of a well-known Death Eater, and promptly shook her head at him in disbelief. “But... But you can’t be! You’re—”

“Dead?” Evan asked, throwing back his head and laughing, before depositing himself upon the trunk-cum-bench at the foot of the bed. “No, Miss Krum. You’ll find that I am very much alive, given that I am sitting right here before you.”

Cait swallowed, trying to feel at ease, but finding that it was difficult to do so. “You’re the one who took me, aren’t you?”

Evan gave a stiff nod. “Three days ago, to be exact. Had to get a healer here last night when the vial of Blood-Replenishing Potion from Slugs & Jiggers didn’t do the job on your head. Had to Polyjuice myself—the healer I got was mine when I attended school.”

“Hogwarts?” Cait asked, wagering a guess.

Evan raised his eyebrows, but answered the question with a nod. “Yes. Poppy Pomfrey is an excellent healer, and while she is bound only to report in an emergency situation, I couldn’t risk her figuring out who I am. Like in the Muggle world, kidnapping is a very serious offense in the Wizarding World. Although I have no intention of physically harming you, the Wizengamot might not see it that way, you see.”

“We’re in England, then,” Cait said, and Evan looked shocked at her deduction. “I am well-aware that Hogwarts is located somewhere in Scotland, but I had the sense to look over my surroundings upon waking up. We’re in Diagon Alley, located off Charing Cross Road, which is in England.”

Evan looked pleased that Cait had showed intelligence, rather than angry that she had explored her whereabouts without his permission. “You speak English very well,” he said instead.

“I’m American,” Cait replied, shrugging her shoulders. “I suppose I should.”

Evan doubled back then, shocked at Cait’s words. “But you were a student at Durmstrang, as well as a daughter of the Krum family...”

“I was raised as a Muggle in the American foster care system for a number of years, until an academic scholarship placed me into a Muggle school in Bulgaria. Because of this, the headmaster of the school figured out that I was a witch, and granted me admittance into Durmstrang in the first place. I was later adopted into the Krum family.”

“So, you’re not Anna-Maria Krum?”

Cait shook her head at Evan. “No. I’m Cait, Cait Krum.”

Evan nodded his head. “Ah, yes. Headmaster Karkaroff’s paramour. No wonder he wanted you out of there so quickly...”

Cait’s mouth went dry; perhaps people in Death Eater circles knew about what the headmaster had done to her, and had kept it between them. “He asked you to take care of me, so to speak, to ensure I wouldn’t talk?”

Evan sighed. “That was part of the plan, yes.”

Cait gripped at the sides of the bathtub, her entire body shaking. “And when you said that you ‘don’t touch the merchandise’, what did that mean?”

“You’re not being hidden away for the headmaster,” Evan assured her, his tone slightly patronizing, which irked Cait. “Or, rather, you are, but it’s for his career’s benefit, not for his sexual gratification.”

Cait gritted her teeth. “Keep talking.”

Evan leaned forward. “I faked my death because of the First Wizarding War. As a known Death Eater, I was high on anyone’s hit list to receive life in Azkaban, or the Kiss.”

Cait drew backwards then. “You... You won’t...”

“No, I won’t kill you, for Merlin’s sake!” Evan said impatiently. “If anything, you’re more use to me alive. Besides, you’re a Pureblood, a true Pureblood, without the marring of incest riddling your family tree.”

Cait made a face. “Thank you, I suppose...”

“Anyhow,” Evan continued, “after I faked my death, well, I must’ve accomplished it so well that even members of my family believed it was so. Because of this, I was taken out of my rightful inheritance, and it was passed directly to my cousin, Felix.”

Cait stared into the water, the pieces slowly coming together. “Oh. I see.”

“Yes, I suppose you do,” Evan said quietly. “I’m going to offer you to Felix as a future wife—I am quite sure you know by now that no marriage will be legal without Baron and Baroness Krum’s consent until you reach the age of seventeen... How old are you now?”

“Fifteen,” Cait said quietly, drawing her knees up so that she could rest her chin upon them, her face devoid of all color.

“Very good,” Evan responded. “Unfortunately, due to all that Karkaroff did to you, I’m likely not to get all that I want out of Felix. However, I am positive he will offer me something as a blood relative, as well as the notion that he himself won’t have to go out there looking for a wife for himself.”

Cait felt her throat go dry. “So, I am to be cattle, then?”

“Not in so many words,” Evan assured her. “I’m positive that, were you to cooperate with Felix, that he would give you the best of everything.”

“In exchange for my vows, my life, and my body,” she muttered.

“The Rosier family is prominent in Pureblood circles, and they’ve got loads of money at their disposal,” Evan informed her, as if he were reciting from a book. “You’ll want for nothing. I’m also sure that Felix will let you continue your education.”

“Sans a wand,” Cait said softly.

“Likely, or, at the very least, until he can properly trust you, but I’ll not speak for him,” Evan informed her in a blasé manner.

Cait sighed. “And the body aspect of it all?”

“He will not enter a marriage with you until you are seventeen.”

“That didn’t stop the headmaster—”

“The headmaster tricked you,” Evan said plainly. “He used you, made you think that he was going to marry you, all to get what he wanted.”

“But won’t Felix want...?”

“Probably, but, if he does, he won’t be getting it from you until you’re the proper age,” Evan told her firmly. “We British Purebloods are of the mind that the _physical_ aspect of any relationship should be reserved for marriage. At least, that’s what we Rosier’s were brought up to believe. As such, Felix will not be touching you until your wedding night.”

Cait lowered her eyes. “So mote it be,” she whispered, her tears dripping onto the surface of her now-lukewarm bathwater.

. . .

Cait was woken up the following morning at dawn, slightly rested due to the Dreamless Sleep that Evan had obtained for her. He informed her the evening before, over a dinner of roast beef, potatoes, and vegetables, that Felix would be coming over from Romania the following day, to inspect her completely. If all went well, Evan would receive his inheritance, and Felix would be taking Cait to Romania with him.

Cait methodically went through the motions of bathing again, with the helpful house-elf providing her with all the cleaning instruments she wanted. However, today, Evan taught her how to do a Wandless Cleaning Spell for her teeth, so she didn’t have to do it in a medieval fashion, as she had done the day before. The house-elf returned to help her into the beautiful dress she had placed into the wardrobe the day before, and provided her with a brush and comb, which Cait used to brush her hair out long, so that it hung down her back.

The dress was a deep red color, and was lovely, although it hugged her a bit more tightly than Cait would have liked. It had a deep oval neckline, showing off her assets, and gripped her hourglass figure perfectly. Red velvet slippers also appeared in the wardrobe, as well as a golden necklace with a garnet-like brooch as its centerpiece, with a spherical pearl suspended from its base. Once Cait had finished getting ready, having already had her breakfast before her morning bath, she was told to take Verena and go down the hallway to the final door, where the drawing room had been made available to her, Evan, and Felix.

The door opened automatically at Cait’s touch and Verena, so often wanting to explore new surroundings, stayed directly beside her mistress’s heels. Cait hesitated in the doorway, waiting for the Rosier cousins to look up at her, and surveyed the expansive room. It was done up in the same style as her borrowed bedroom, which Cait now knew to be a part of the expanse of rooms on offer at The Leaky Cauldron, a popular wizarding inn. There was a massive stone fireplace just behind the plush chairs that Evan and Felix were sitting in, with the chairs positioned atop an expensive-looking Persian rug. There was a couch placed directly in front of them, blocking them partially from Cait’s view, done up in the same style as the chair. Gilt-framed paintings, moving in the frames, were upon various walls—above the fireplace had one in which the placard declared the moving sitter to be Ulick Gamp, first British Minister of Magic—while another was of a withered-looking man with a long, snow-white beard, with the placard declaring him to be Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts.

“This is the Slytherin Drawing Room at The Leaky Cauldron,” said a voice, and Cait turned towards it, recognizing that it was Felix, her intended, who spoke. “Three other drawing rooms are here at The Leaky, with Godric Gryffindor gracing the walls of the Gryffindor Drawing Room, Helga Hufflepuff the Hufflepuff Drawing Room, and Rowena Ravenclaw the Ravenclaw Drawing room. As you can see, each are modeled accordingly...”

“As you may remember, my dear cousin,” Evan interrupted gently, as Cait’s eyes left the cousin’s again to pass over the deep green walls and the silvery furnishings of the room, “as Catherina attended Durmstrang, she’s not likely to know the in-depth history surrounding that of—”

“Cait,” she interrupted them, surprised at her courage to speak out, as her eyes flashed promptly towards the Rosier cousins once more. “I won’t answer to Catherina, so kindly don’t address me as such. I go by ‘Cait’, and that is final.”

Felix got immediately to his feet then, as Evan floundered for a moment, clearly looking uncomfortable as his younger cousin made his way towards Cait. Felix stood well over six-feet, and was dark-haired, both things he had in common with his cousin, Evan. “I take it that that is final, then?” Felix asked.

Cait raised her chin, knowing that she had to be firm. “Yes,” she said, as Verena inched as close to her mistress as she dared. “I find I am backed into a corner, and will agree to this betrothal and marriage, once I turn seventeen, on the condition that I be permitted to keep my cat, and be addressed as ‘Cait’.”

Felix afforded Verena a cursory glance, before nodding. “I see that you’re fully prepared to give up your life to be married to a virtual stranger... Well, as you are a Pureblood and seemingly of sound mind, I see no reason why your demands, small as they are, cannot be met.” Felix turned on his heel then, and nodded at Evan. “I like this one, and you’ve done well in your selection, as it were. I trust you did not touch the merchandise?”

“No, Felix,” Evan responded, shaking his head. “You told me to look, but not touch, which is exactly what was done.”

“And you employed Poppy Pomfrey as her healer when she was injured in the abduction attempt,” he said, and shook his head, gripping at the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. “Please tell me you had the good sense to use Polyjuice.”

“I did,” Evan assured his cousin with a nod. “I also explained that the two of you would be living in Romania, as you informed me to do so, were she competent enough to understand. She seems to be intelligent, yet stubborn, so you will have your work cut out for you.”

“But you also stated that Cait was polite, which I am also quite fond of, in a woman, so the intelligence and stubborn demeanor will be refreshing,” he said, shooting Cait a small smile. “I will have my barrister go over the Rosier will, and have you a pension of two-hundred-seven-thousand Galleons, your allotted inheritance, given to you over the course of the next ten years, if that is agreeable to you.”

Evan nodded. “It is. Thank you.”

“You may also utilize the Rosier townhouse, as you are a direct heir, and I’ve no need of it, given my business arrangements, and my estate, keeping me in Romania,” Felix said with a slight wave of his hand. “The house-elves there have always been treated accordingly, and you will do no less. They are in charge of cooking and cleaning; you shall always have a place to sleep, and you’ll never go hungry again.”

Evan looked completely grateful. “Thank you, cousin...”

Felix stepped towards Evan then, who suddenly broke off his exposition of gratitude, as Felix stood before him. “However, if I ever hear that you have broken the terms we’ve come up with, or if you come panhandling to me, any other member of our family, or the extended ones, our bond will be broken forever.” Pulling back, he stuck out his hand, briefly shaking Evan’s, before he pulled back and walked back up to Cait, offering him arm. “Come along, Cait. We’ve got to catch a train to Romania.”

Cait worried her lower lip, bending down to pick up Verena before taking the offered arm. “And no one will find us?” she asked. “I mean... I wouldn’t want you to get into trouble...”

Felix visibly softened at Cait’s apparent concern. “Never fear. It is a Muggle train, and I doubt the Bulgarian authorities will be venturing forth into the Muggle world just yet to find you. They will exhaust every wizarding method possible first.” With a wave of his hand, he conjured a cage to keep Verena in, and helped Cait put her cat into it. “Come along, then.” As they walked outside of the Slytherin Drawing Room, Cait was surprised when they returned to her bedroom, and looked inquisitively up at Felix.

“You said a train...”

Felix laughed. “There is no direct line from London to Romania, and, although Muggles are good for some things, they have yet to come up with easy transport for that.” Shaking his head, he turned to the fireplace and waved his wand, obviously unlocking the Floo, before he informed it of international travel. Once the flames turned green, he handed Cait a handful of Floo Powder and said, “Tell the Floo that you wish to go to Rosier Rectory.”

“Aren’t you coming, too?” Cait queried.

Felix nodded. “Of course. I shall be right behind you to introduce you to the staff. Now, go!” he ordered, handing over the cage.

Cait stumbled a bit, but shouted, “Rosier Rectory!” and threw the powder into the flames, which swallowed her completely.

Felix immediately followed, easing Cait to her feet and casting Cleaning Charms upon them both. As soon as he’d finished, there was a flurry of activity, and several people and house-elves soon arrived in their domain. They all bowed their heads respectfully at the sight of Felix, and looked slightly taken aback when Felix wrapped an arm around Cait’s waist and promptly pulled her forward.

“Everyone, this is Cait, my fiancée,” he declared, and they promptly began whispering among themselves, until Felix raised his free hand. “Cait, this is our butler, Thaddeus Wright,” he said, mentioning the first man in the line, and continued onward. “This is our housekeeper, Psamathe Morar. This is your personal maid, Marianna Lucas. This is our chef, Alexandre Durand. And this is Wilson Jacobi, the groundskeeper and gardener.” Felix then rattled off the various house-elf attendant’s names, before he clapped his hands. “Everyone but Marianna may return to their chores,” he declared, and Marianna, who couldn’t have been more than seventeen or eighteen, shuffled from foot to foot; she had curly strawberry-blonde hair and engaging blue eyes. “I will have a word with Cait for a few moments, Marianna. In the interim, I would appreciate it if you would please take Verena upstairs to the east wing.”

“Yes, Lord Rosier,” Marianna said with a sweeping curtsy, before taking ahold of Verena’s cage and bringing her up the expansive staircase beyond.

“Now, Cait,” Felix said, prompting Cait to look over at him, “you will be given the most lavish room the east wing has to offer, and will be given privacy when it calls for it. Your suite of rooms will have a bedroom, bathroom, and an attached library, however, you will of course be permitted to use the large library we have on site. By January, I will have begun my search to find an appropriate wizarding tutor for you, where you will be trained in magic properly, in the Hogwarts way.”

Cait blinked. “The Hogwarts way?”

“Yes,” Felix told her. “Your final examinations in your fifth and seventh year will be the OWLs and NEWTs, not the GHOULs and DRAGONs.”

Cait bowed her head. “Yes, I see.”

“Further,” Felix went on, “you will take your Sunday evening meals with me when I am in residence here with you. Other than that, you may eat where you wish.”

Cait continued to keep her head bowed. “As you command, Felix.”

“Let Chef Alexandre know which meals you are fond of, which you are not, and if you have any allergies we should be aware of,” Felix instructed.

“Shellfish,” she admitted, hunching her shoulders. “And I don’t enjoy seafood.”

“Very good, he shall know forthwith,” Felix assured her. “Pending good weather, you will be permitted in the garden on your own for up to three hours each day. As for the orchards, you must have Marianna or one of the gardeners with you as an escort.”

Cait nodded. “I understand.”

“We are on the Floo Network, but you will not be permitted to use it,” he informed her. “Each fireplace is password protected, and you are not to know the password.”

Cait gave a stiff nod. “Of course.”

“Within reason, you are to have whatever you want, of course,” Felix continued. “Clothing has been made available to you in your expansive wardrobe in various styles. Just inform my personal shopper what you like—the house-elf you met called Milly, who is responsible for clothe buying—and it will be purchased.”

Cait gave a tight smile at that. “Thank you, Felix.”

“After the occasion of your seventeenth birthday, the period of engagement shall be over, and you and I shall be married. However, you still have status within the house as my fiancée, and you will be treated with respect as its lady. The only place in the house you are not permitted are the west wing, which is where my rooms are, and the north tower, as it is old, decrepit, and quite dangerous... I believe a few demons and Boggarts lurk up there, but it is protected with extensive Warding Spells.”

Cait shuddered. “Understood,” she told him.

“Let Cudo, the house-elf food shopper, obtain anything you would like from the shops, for both yourself and for Verena. She is a lovely animal, and I wouldn’t want to see either of you doing something Muggle, like starve,” Felix informed her.

Cait felt appalled at the statement, but forced herself to remain calm. “Yes, Felix.”

Felix gave a nod at that, and turned when Marianna came down the sweeping staircase. “Ah, good, Marianna,” he said, nodding with approval. “I’ve a Floo Call with some co-workers, so I shall be in my study. Have Nixy come in about two hours to take my evening meal order from Alexandre, will you?”

“Of course, Lord Rosier,” said Marianna, curtsying deeply, and remaining that way until Felix had swept away completely. Rising up, she tentatively looked over Cait. “Miss Krum, if you would please follow me—”

“Please,” Cait said, and something in Cait’s voice made Marianna stop. “Please, call me Cait. I mean, with the exception of my cat, I’ve lost everything over the past four days. I don’t want to lose my name, too.”

Marianna nodded, and reached out her hand. “Come. I’ll show you to your room,” she said, her voice gentle.

Cait stepped forward and took the girls’ hand, permitting her to lead her up the sweeping staircase opposite them. It couldn’t be as bad as all that, could it, given that Felix was being plenty generous for a jailer? As Marianna spoke gently about the house and its history, Cait felt relieved, feeling as if she could have just made a friend.

. . .

Christmas had come and gone with Cait staying in her rooms and pacing up and down. Verena was there, of course, as was Marianna in between her various duties. Thankfully, as Cait’s personal maid, her first priority was Cait, so they were free to chat now and again. Madam Morar, the housekeeper, brought her meals when she was able, but soon a house-elf, Tippy, was assigned to her. Tippy was an energetic little thing, which made Cait’s heart hurt, due to the fact that she remembered Tessy so well.

“I was adopted on Christmas,” Cait said to Marianna on New Year’s Day. She had declined Firewhiskey, as she had felt extremely ill. “For so many years, I thought that nobody wanted me, and then the Krums came. And now, I fear I’ll not see them again...”

Marianna bit her lip, inching closer to Cait. “Once you marry Lord Rosier, he’s going to want one thing from you, and one thing only.”

“Sex?” Cait whispered, her mouth growing dry.

Marianna sighed, knowing what had happened to Cait at Headmaster Karkaroff’s hands, and knew that she had to be extremely careful with her. “That’s part of it,” she admitted. “Once you have a son, an heir for the House of Rosier, Lord Rosier will give you anything. I believe that, if you were to ask to write to your family, or have them visit, it could be permitted.”

“A son?” Cait breathed.

“Yes,” Marianna told her. “In old houses, both wizarding and Muggle, sons were deemed more important than daughters, as they were seen as the proper sex to inherit. Many Pureblood families think in this way. As such, once you have a son, Lord Rosier’s son, you will be given pretty much all the freedom you could ask for.”

“Save _my_ freedom, which includes getting out of the marriage,” Cait said quietly.

Marianna reached forward and clutched at Cait’s hand. “It can’t be all bad, can it?”

“I’ve lost everything!” Cait cried, tearing her hand away and launching to her feet. “I’ve effectively traded one prison for another. The only exception to my last one was momentary freedom for three and a half months out of the year. All it involved was waiting, waiting for my abuser to summon me to him, whereupon he would strike again. And now... Now, I’ve got even more waiting, waiting until my majority, until I can get raped all over again...”

“Cait...”

“All I ever wanted was a family, people to love me without hurting me,” Cait said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “The Muggles in foster care never raped me, but they didn’t like me, and they’d hit me...” She shut her eyes, remembering the religious fanatic family she had been placed with—they were Roman Catholic, if she remembered correctly—and the wife of the family would take the family’s holy bible and beat her about the head with it whenever Cait displayed accidental magic. Cait trembled, remembering the _swish_ through the air as the book came down, hammering onto her head. Sometimes, if the woman hit hard enough, she would black out or, worse, blood would come out her ears...

“Cait? Cait!”

Cait’s eyes snapped open then, and Marianna was standing before her. Tentatively, Cait reached out her hands towards her. “Help me,” she begged.

Marianna blinked. “What can I do?”

“You can get me out of here,” Cait said, her vision fuzzy with all the tears. “Help me get out of here, please, Marianna...”

Marianna sighed. “I would love nothing more than to get you freedom, Cait, but I cannot,” she said, her shoulders slacking, and held up her hand when Cait began to protest. “It is not through the loyalty of servitude that I’m refusing. I attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and my father got into some debt with the Rosier family. As such, my services were promised to Felix when I graduated. That is why I am here.”

“If it’s not out of loyalty, why can you not help me?” Cait whispered.

“Because I’m just as much a prisoner as you are,” Marianna said softly. “My father attempted to get me engaged to Lord Rosier, but I’m merely a Half-Blood, so that would never do. So, I became a servant, and was trained by Madam Morar to be the personal maid of whomever was selected to be the next Lady Rosier.” She sighed, her shoulders trembling. “As for the prisoner aspect of it all, I’ve no Floo passwords, so we could not leave that way. I was not permitted to receive Apparition lessons, nor was I given permission to get the license. As for a Portkey, they are sanctioned by the ministry, and we cannot get one without Lord Rosier’s say-so.”

“And... And merely walking out of here?” Cait asked.

Marianna’s eyes filled with tears as she shook her head, and rolled up the sleeve of her dress, which showed a severe burn mark. “I attempted to run when I was first brought here,” she said quietly. “This was healed the Muggle way as punishment, and I’ll always bear the horrific scar because of it.”

Cait shook her head. “What... What...?”

“The wards are authorized to burn those who haven’t been given permission to enter, or leave, the property,” Marianna explained. “Because of that, if one were to attempt to leave it, or enter it, completely without consent, they could lose their lives.”

Cait trembled then, wrapping her arms around herself. “So... So, despite all of this,” she said, and gestured to the beautiful room which had already been decorated to her specifications, “it is all a façade, then?”

Marianna sighed. “Yes,” she agreed.

Cait turned around then, staring out the window at the grounds, which could only be described as beautiful, covered beneath a thick layer of snow. “So,” she whispered, barely able to see through her tears, “I truly am a prisoner...”

. . .

It was March when the earth began warming up again, and Cait was growing used to her imprisonment at the hands of Felix Rosier. Felix, for his part, was often away working, so Cait had the run of the house to herself. Although it was warming up, rain was constantly on the weather report, and so Cait hadn’t been able to walk in the gardens. Instead, she kept up with her reading in both her personal library, and the expansive one the house had on offer, due to the fact that her tutor was due to arrive at the end of the month.

It was one week before the tutor, whom she had been told was named Palaemon Wyatt, was due to arrive, when Cait awoke to a flooding sensation of pain. Broken out of sleep by the sharp and agonizing sensation, she lit the lamp beside her bed, and pulled back her goose down coverlet. It was as she did so that a scream came forth from her lips, and her hands began trembling. There, upon the pink sheets, was a massive scarlet stain.

Cait had initially believed that the reason why she hadn’t bled each month since her kidnapping was because of the stress of being held captive. However, a dark foreboding entered her mind then as Marianna and Madam Morar came storming into her room. Looking up at them with tear-filled eyes, she began babbling, not knowing what else to do in that situation.

“I didn’t know!” she sobbed. “I swear to Merlin, I didn’t—!”

Madam Morar looked shocked at the scene, and hastily brandished her wand—she was one of the few servants on the staff permitted one—and whispered, “_Revelio_!”

Cait shrunk back automatically as a flash of blue light came towards her, illuminating her entire stomach area with red. “I... I don’t—!”

“It’s a miscarriage,” Madam Morar said gravely, nodding her head with concern. “Marianna, go and speak to Alexandre. Have him give you Blood-Replenishing Potion, Draught of Peace, Calming Draught, Invigoration Draught, Grand Wiggenweld Potion, Star Grass Salve, Girding Potion, and Dreamless Sleep Potion. Hurry now!” she shouted, and Marianna quickly fled from the room, her blue eyes wide with fear.

“What’s...?”

“I believe that wretch of a headmaster hurt you more than we initially believed,” said Madam Morar grievously, sitting beside Cait and taking her by the hand.

Cait swallowed. “I didn’t know,” she said, as she felt the pain grab ahold of her again, and she arched her back against the great-many bolsters her bed had.

She remembered seeing the room for the first time, and walking through the lavish sitting room and even further, into the beautiful bedroom that seemed something straight out of some old-timey fairy tale. Carpets adorned the highly-polished wooden floors, while the most beautiful carpet housed the massive bed that Cait was currently lying in. It was a cherry wood four-poster, similar to hers at Durmstrang, except this had a flowered pink canopy and thick, pink curtains. It also had the aforementioned abundance of pillows, covered in antique lace, which she was currently lying on, pink sheets, and heavy furred and goose down bedding.

“Help me,” Cait whispered, having never felt such agony.

“We’ll do all we can for you, dearie,” Madam Morar assured her, although her dark eyes did not betray many emotions. This, Cait supposed, was likely done for protection for, perhaps, Felix did not wish his staff, save for Marianna, to be overtly friendly to Cait.

“You’ll help me?” Cait found herself asking.

Madam Morar looked shocked at the vulnerability the future Lady Rosier was displaying; no matter what Felix had said or done, she was not made of stone. This poor girl had been taken from her home, and had been forced to give up everything, save for her cat. No; Psamathe Morar would not stand for undue cruelty done upon her future mistress. From what she had seen, Cait had a fire in her belly that she’d not seen in such a long time, and this girl deserved to have what kindness all the household staff could give to her.

“I shall,” Madam Morar said steadily.

It was then that Marianna burst into the room, holding a small basket in her arms, which she promptly handed over to Madam Mortar, who administered the potion vials directly to Cait. It all happened in a blur then, with Cait delivering a small bundle of something, and Madam Morar whisking it away, with strict instructions to Marianna. Marianna then managed to heave Cait up from the bed, and permitted her mistress to lean upon her as she escorted her to the attached bathroom, a lovely and lavish location.

“What...?” Cait breathed.

Marianna turned around and filled the tub quickly and expertly, before hastily undressing Cait and putting her into the warm water. “The pipes have automatically put healing herbs and essential oils into the water to speed-up your healing,” she explained, perching on the loo. “You will take Dreamless Sleep as soon as Madam Morar returns, and you’ll have a restful night. As soon as you want to talk about this night, we shall.”

Cait nodded, and sank deeply into the water, relieved to have the opportunity to wash herself. It had been a great shock to discover that she was pregnant with Headmaster Karkaroff’s child, and wondered, had she remained at Durmstrang, what would have happened. Shaking the thought off and away from her, she allowed Marianna to wash her quickly, before her maid fetched a clean nightgown from her bedroom and helped her into it. Once they were back in her room, Cait was relieved to see that the blood was gone, and that there was no evidence that she had just given birth to a barely-four-month-old fetus.

“Are you well?” Marianna queried as she tucked her in.

Cait shuddered, momentarily feeling better as Verena made herself known, immediately cuddling up to her mistress. “I have to be, don’t I?” she asked, before taking the administered Dreamless Sleep, and permitted herself to fall.


	9. Fall to Pieces

It was a week after the traumatizing situation—one that Madam Morar and Marianna promised not to breathe a word of—when Professor Palaemon Wyatt arrived at the Rosier house. He had been handpicked by Felix to complete Cait’s education, and Cait found herself apprehensive as Marianna helped her dress that morning. She wouldn’t have a school uniform, naturally, so it was decided that proper dress was the way to go.

Eventually, a white blouse with ruffled sleeves and a buttoned-up lace front was selected, which only accentuated her neck, and a black pinafore dress with no sleeves to accompany it. She was also expected to wear stockings with the outfit, and appropriate black shoes, which Cait remembered were called Mary Janes. After the outfit was selected and the clock chimed nine, off Marianna went to inform Milly, the personal shopper elf, to buy multitudes of clothing which matched the description, while Cait held her breath. Petting Verena one last time, she stepped out of her bedroom and through the sitting room and into the library, where Professor Palaemon Wyatt was reportedly awaiting her.

The professor himself was quite tall and had blond hair streaked with silver, and appeared to be somewhere in his thirties, due to how youthful his face still looked. He had his nose in _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5_ by Miranda Goshawk, which he quickly lowered as Cait approached. His eyes were blue flecked with gold and he lowered the textbook he held and tucked it underneath his arm, before he held out his hand to Cait.

“Good morning, Miss Krum,” he said politely, his British accent thick. “I am Professor Wyatt, and I am honored to become the personal tutor to the future Lady Rosier.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Cait replied, accepting his offered hand. Looking down at the surface of the cherry wood table, she saw other books scattered about. Among them were _Intermediate Transfiguration_, _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newton Scamander, _Intermediate Astronomy _by Jupiter Phoenix,_ Confronting the Faceless_, _A History of Magic, Grade 5_ by Bathilda Bagshot, _Intermediate Guide to Potion Making_, _Goshawk’s Guide to Herbology _by Miranda Goshawk, _Ancient Runes Made Easy_ by Laurenzoo, and the final one was _Numerology and Grammatica_.

“Ah, yes, the textbooks,” Professor Wyatt said fondly. “Your OWL’s, that is, your fifth-year examinations, will be of charms, transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, herbology, ancient runes, potions, and arithmancy.”

Cait’s mouth wrinkled; she knew, by this time, that charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, transfiguration, potions, and herbology were among the required classes at Hogwarts. Others included History of Magic, astronomy, and flying, but, she supposed, they were permitted to tweak the rules to suit Felix. Cait also readily assumed that Felix had to pre-approve all the classes she was to take; it made her angry that Magical Theory was not among the ones selected, and promptly came to the conclusion that this was just another way to control her, not that she expected anything less.

Cait reached forward tentatively and picked up one of the textbooks; it turned out to be the potions text. “And what if I perform less than satisfactorily on one of the examinations?” she asked softly, not looking forward to potential consequences.

“You will be required to achieve five passing OWL’s,” Professor Wyatt replied patiently. “We will be doing NEWTs subjects upon the completion of your fifth-year studies. You need three NEWTs to graduate with qualifications.”

“Not that I’ll be doing much with my life, other than lying on my back and breeding heirs for the Rosier family,” Cait said, letting go of the book, which slammed down onto the surface of the table, rattling it.

“Ah. I take it that this was an arranged marriage, then?”

Cait’s eyes flashed upwards to the professor’s, and immediately shook her head. “If by ‘arranged’, you mean the bride was forcibly kidnapped, and then bought and sold for property and several handfuls of Galleons. Hardly a fair trade, if you ask me, given that I had no choice in the matter, and was taken away from a family who loved and cared for me, forbidden to contact them or anyone else, and was only permitted to keep my familiar.”

“A familiar?” Professor Wyatt asked.

Cait scoffed. “That’s what you got from all that? I suppose that’s believable,” she said, throwing herself into one of the chairs. “Verena is my cat. Felix oh so generously permitted me to keep her, when I prevented her from outright attacking his cousin, who was the man who took me away from my education at Durmstrang. Sure, it was a prison in and of itself, given that their headmaster is a tyrant who liked to prey upon the female student population, but,” Cait said, and gave a small shrug, “what could I do? He is friends with my mother and father, who adopted me and gave me shelter when no one else would... All the Muggles that took me in did so because of the goddamned government stipend they’d get each month.”

“So, you are not a Krum by blood?”

“No,” Cait replied tersely. “Not by a longshot. I’ve no idea who I am, given that my original name, that is, the name I always went by, is in no magical directories of any kind.”

“Have you sought out Muggles ones?”

“Headmaster Karkaroff identified me as a Pureblood when he met me,” Cait said, twisting her fingers into her skirt. “It granted me admittance into Durmstrang without issue, as well as placement with the Krum family.”

“Even Half-Bloods are permitted admittance,” Professor Wyatt said softly. “Do you mean to tell me that the headmaster probed your magical core?”

“He _probed_ quite more than that,” Cait replied darkly.

Professor Wyatt suddenly went white. “That’s what you meant, when you said you were transported from one prison to another?”

“Yes,” Cait replied, her voice soft. “Yes.”

“Dear Merlin, so you’re really the girl that’s been missing all this time,” he whispered, dragging a hand through his hair.

Cait straightened up then. “You mean... They’re looking for me?”

“Exhausting each method they can possibly think of, according to _The Daily Prophet_,” Professor Wyatt confirmed with a nod. “They’re even searching with outside sources, with Headmaster Dumbledore of Hogwarts being one, and Headmaster Cobbe of Ilvermorny being another. It is said that they’re both devastated, and young Anna and Viktor are barely managing to hold it together in their classes. Not to mention the lack of discipline that the entirety of Durmstrang seems to be faced with...”

Cait bit down hard on her lower lip. “Lack of discipline? I don’t understand. We’re taught to be extremely disciplined while on campus, and especially during class or mealtimes... I don’t understand how something as important as discipline could potentially fall by the wayside, or what it has to do with me...”

“Are you familiar with two students, twins, by the names of Branimir and Vasilisa? I believe they were in your house, Doblest...”

“Yes,” Cait replied. “Branimir and I were...close...”

“Ah, I see,” Professor Wyatt replied, no judgement in his tone. “Well, apparently young Branimir attacked the headmaster so severely, in the wake of your disappearance, that he has been expelled from Durmstrang.”

“Expelled?!” Cait cried out. “Is Bran all right?”

“His mother managed to appeal the decision, and Branimir will resume classes at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France,” Professor Wyatt informed her. “As for Vasilisa, she refuses to inform anyone why Branimir attacked your former headmaster, claiming that she was unaware of the information.”

A lump rose in Cait’s throat as she lowered her eyes. “Yes, I see.”

“Vasilisa will continue her education at Durmstrang without incident, according to _The Daily Prophet_,” Professor Wyatt continued. “She is reported to be quiet and withdrawn in the wake of her brothers’ expulsion, which is to be understood.”

Cait looked up. “Surely, they were close, but...”

“Twins, especially magical ones, are like two halves of the same soul, according to the ancient witches and wizards of the magical realm,” Professor Wyatt explained. “When one is without the other, they will potentially engage in risky or dangerous behavior, for a part of them realizes that they are incomplete and, therefore, do not care as much about themselves because of it.”

Cait scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, well, I’m not a twin,” she said, pulling a textbook towards her and flipping through it. “These are fifth-year texts.”

Professor Wyatt looked confused. “You are fifteen, are you not?”

“Well, yes, but I was a fourth-year when I was taken out of Durmstrang,” Cait said. “My birthday falls in the month of November.”

“Well, I’ve brought both fourth and sixth-year texts with me, in addition to the fifth-year ones before you there,” Professor Wyatt informed her. “We’ll just have to test and see, without a wand, mind you, just where you are in the educational process.”

Cait slouched in her chair—fuck propriety, and everything related to it. “Very well,” she said, and waved her hands about, causing the books to do a complicated dance upon the surface of the table, causing Professor Wyatt’s jaw to drop. “Let the work begin, I suppose...”

. . .

_There was nothing but darkness before her, and, although many children, Muggle and magical alike, were afraid of it, Cait basked within it. For in this darkness, there appeared to be nothing and, if there was nothing, there was naught to hurt her. As she traipsed through the darkness, however, she was in for a rude awakening, for, hidden among the shadows, was literally her worst nightmare._

_“Catherina.”_

_The entirety of the small hairs on Cait’s body stood on end, and Cait whipped around, looking over her shoulder. In the darkness, which caused her to stumble backwards, were a pair of white, wrinkled hands, with a downing of black hair upon them._

_“No,” Cait begged, tripping over her own feet as she fought to get away from those hands, which came towards her. “No, not again. Not again, please...”_

_“You will address me as ‘sir’,” came the growl, just as Headmaster Igor Karkaroff stepped completely from the shadows._

_Cait attempted to scream, but found that she couldn’t make a sound, and was now barely able to move, due to the dark eyes of her most hated enemy locked upon her._

_“Ah, did little Catherina go silent in my presence?” asked the headmaster, as he proceeded to walk around her, like a shark, or a large cat, stalking its prey. “Silence could mean respect. But I suppose I wouldn’t have to tell you that it can also mean disrespect,” the man continued, and he stopped directly in front of her, roughly grabbing ahold of her chin and yanking it upwards so that they were staring at one another._

_“N... No,” Cait begged, her voice trembling._

_“You will address me as ‘sir’!” came his shout then as he dropped his hold upon her chin, only to lift his hand again and backhand her across the face, causing Cait to fall down onto her side, crying out as she did so, for she’d landed so hard. “Have you not learned respect by now, my Catherina?” he asked._

_Cait stared up at the man, through her strands of hair and through her tears. “What is it you wanted from me?” she whispered, deliberately not calling him ‘sir’, for she could handle a beating more so than she could handle being raped again._

_The headmaster’s expression darkened further at her perceived disrespect, but nevertheless continued speaking. “Despite what you may have heard, about the Krum family seeking every avenue to find you, it is a falsehood.”_

_Cait threw her hair back then, glaring up at her former headmaster. “What are you talking about now?” she growled back._

_“They were only too glad to be rid of a troublemaking freak like you,” the headmaster said in a tone riddled with disdain._

_Cait felt her blood run cold. “They loved me! I know they loved me—!”_

_“Saying one thing and meaning another are commonplace within the human race, Muggle or wizardkind included,” Igor Karkaroff said impatiently. “Think back to your time in the States, and how all those families rejected you...”_

_“They were Muggles!” Cait burst out. “They didn’t understand my gifts—!”_

_“What you call ‘gifts’, others would call ‘curses’,” said the man, glaring down at her. “The Krums only took you in as a favor to me, their _friend_. End of story.”_

_“It had nothing to do with you and everything to do with the goodness in their hearts!” Cait yelled, and found the strength to get to her feet. “I know they suspected you in the end, due to my withdrawn behavior. Oh,” she said, as a torrent of fear seemed to flash across the headmaster’s face. “You thought I... You honestly believed that I was able to keep our dirty dealings a secret. I suppose you doubted a mother’s love for a moment. Don’t you _ever_ doubt the love of a mother, Igor, especially_ my_ mother.”_

_“Catherina...”_

_“_Don’t_ you ever call me that again!” she shouted. “The Krums are my family, because they took me in and discovered who I really was. They shielded me, nurtured me, and loved me, to the point where they made me a permanent member of their family, both in spirit and legally. You may doubt familial love, because you yourself don’t seem to have it, but don’t you dare doubt mine, because I found it. I may not have it now, due to the fact that I am in yet another prison, but I will one day get out of this. And, when that day comes, Igor, your days are numbered, because I will tell! I’ll tell everyone who will listen all that you did to me, all that you said, and all the filthy, filthy things you wanted to achieve in future...”_

_The man stepped forward then, the silvery gleam of a dagger he now held never catching the light, and held it aloft. When it made contact with Cait’s skin, she didn’t cry out, and it was a mere gasp which escaped her lips. When the man’s hand came around her body then, lashing at her throat and her lips, did Cait finally have the strength to cry out and struggle._

“No, no!” she shouted, and her eyes suddenly seemed to snap open then, and she was lying upon her bed in the Rosier house.

“Miss Krum?” came the shout of Madam Morar, as her bedroom door came crashing open, and there stood the housekeeper, Marianna at her heels. “Are you all right?”

Cait shivered, lifting her hands to her throat, and let out a scream as they came away wet, and began flailing about in her bed.

“_Lumos_,” Madam Morar said, and the lights immediately came on in Cait’s bedroom, and she stepped forward, putting a hand to Cait’s forehead. “Ah, you’re quite warm, my dear,” she said with an understanding smile. She summoned an empty glass from across the room and tipped her wand into it. “_Aguamenti_,” she said softly, handing over the glass of cold water to Cait.

“Are you all right, Miss Krum?” Marianna asked tentatively, once Cait had slowly drunk her water at Madam Morar’s urging.

Cait nodded, setting the glass aside and wrapping her arms around herself. “Yes, sorry. It was just a nightmare...”

“About the man who hurt you?” Marianna asked softly, letting out a slight gasp as Madam Morar swatted her in the arm.

“No, it’s all right, Madam Morar,” Cait assured the elder woman, and forced a smile onto her lips as she straightened up. “To answer your question, Marianna, yes. It seems as though he entered my dreamscape and attempted to hurt me again.” She reached up and touched her neck, and although she found it tender, it was merely wet with her sweat, and not with blood. “I suppose I’ll be all right now...”

“You’re sure, Miss Krum?” Madam Morar asked. “We’ll not leave you, if you think that you may suffer more...”

Cait bit at her lips. “Well, perhaps some Dreamless Sleep will aid me in achieving proper sleep, and then I shall be right as rain come morning.”

Madam Morar nodded, and summoned a vial from the cupboard across the room, where Felix Rosier had permitted certain potions for Cait to be kept. She unstoppered the vial and handed it over to Cait, who promptly drank it in one swallow. “All right now, love?”

Cait smiled at the term of endearment, and handed over the now-empty vial. “I shall be,” she said softly, sighing with relief as Verena made herself known and crawled into her lap. “I suppose with some more sleep, I shall be ready to distract myself come morning with Professor Wyatt’s lessons...” Her eyes slowly turned to Marianna, who blushed. “And how are things going with him, then?” she asked.

Marianna flushed all the more deeply then, although she did smile. In the eight weeks or so that Professor Wyatt had been teaching Cait—and found that she was more-suited to fifth-year texts after all—he had developed quite a rapport with Marianna. In so doing, the pair was always seen together about the house when he was not teaching Cait, or Marianna waiting upon her. While a friendship had quickly bloomed, Cait was under the correct impression that the pair of them were well on their way to growing closer still.

“All right, I suppose,” Marianna said softly. “I’ve never met anyone like him. He’s lovely, and I feel as if I can be myself around him...”

“That’s exactly how it should feel,” Cait assured her, reaching out and taking Marianna’s hand with a smile.

“All right, you two,” Madam Morar said indulgently, “we’d all best return to bed now. Our lovely mistress needs her beauty sleep, after all.”

Cait smiled at them both as they moved to leave her bedroom. “Thank you,” she said quietly, and Madam Morar and Marianna turned around to face her. “For...all this. You needn’t do anything, and yet, you seem to be here whenever I have need of you.”

“I would say it was our job, Miss Krum, but it has become more than that...” She sighed. “You do not deserve what has befallen you, any of it, and, rest assured, Marianna and I will do all we can to get you through it.”

Cait smiled, willing for herself not to cry. “Thank you.”

Madam Morar nodded one final time, before swishing her wand about the room. “_Nox_,” she whispered, and Cait leaned back in her bed, waiting for the door to creak shut behind them, as she slowly drifted back to sleep.

. . .

It was the final Friday in June when Felix returned from his duties in Romania, and Cait was to be ready to have dinner with him. She had finished her OWLs a month previously, and was told that she would have to wait until dinner that night to open them. They had been delivered at lunch that afternoon, so it had been several tiring hours of waiting for the day to arrive to the evening hours. She had finished her classes for fifth-year that afternoon, and was permitted by Felix, pending her OWL results, to have the rest of June, plus all of July and August, off before beginning her sixth-year classes with Professor Wyatt.

The dress pre-selected for her to wear that evening at dinner was a white one, with multi-colored flowers all over its cotton surface. It had a swing-like skirt, and a high oval neckline, plus short sleeves. Cait also stepped into a pair of white sandals, and was given a simple pearl necklace to wear with it. After her long hair was brushed out and pinned in a high ponytail, she was permitted to head downstairs to the main dining room for dinner.

She sat at the foot of the table as instructed, sitting straight in her chair. She waited for Felix to come into the dining room, and promptly got to her feet when he did so, keeping her eyes down upon the surface of the table. Just beside her plate was the envelope from the Ministry of Magic, embossed with its seal, waiting to be delivered to Felix, who would, of course, see her examination scores first.

“Sit,” Felix said without preamble, and, once Cait did so, he took out his wand and pointed it in her direction. “_Accio_,” he said, and the envelope flew towards him. “Were there any classes you did not enjoy?” he asked conversationally.

“Arithmancy, and ancient runes,” Cait admitted softly.

“I never was very fond of those either,” Felix said with a nod, and finally got the parchment out and looked it over. “Ah. Well, it seems as though you’ll have those months off before your sixth-year classes begin,” he said, and banished the parchment towards her.

Cait took ahold of the parchment when it was given to her, and her eyes nearly popped out of her skull as she took in the scores.

Ancient Runes O

Arithmancy O

Astronomy O

Care of Magical Creatures O

Charms O

Defense Against the Dark Arts O

Herbology O

History of Magic O

Potions O

Transfiguration O

“If you truly did not enjoy ancient runes or arithmancy,” Felix said, causing Cait to look up at him for a moment, “I see no reason to continue them. Eight NEWTs are more than enough, I feel, for someone who will be a lady of leisure.”

_Lady of leisure? More like lady imprisoned_, Cait mused to herself as she lowered her scores down onto the table, placing her hands into her lap as the various servants entered the dining room with the soup course. “How were things in Romania?” she asked softly, hoping to draw out a more pleasant conversation.

Felix raised his eyes to Cait down the table, looking slightly taken aback by the notion that she would even ask him about his career. “It was fine,” he replied, nodding his thanks to the butler who had served him the potato and leek soup, and motioned for the man to go down the table to give Cait some as well. “We had some Swedish Short-Snout hatchlings a fortnight ago, and their mother was already teaching them how to blow fire by the time I left.”

Cait trailed her soup spoon along the soup’s hot surface. “Aren’t they the dragons that have blue smoke?” she queried.

Felix nodded, seemingly relieved that Cait knew something about the subject. “They are. Their breath can also reduce timber and bone to ash within seconds.”

Cait, who had, by this time, moved to take a bite of her soup, nearly choked upon the hot liquid going down her throat. “Well,” she said, wiping delicately at her mouth once she’d gotten ahold of herself, “it doesn’t appear to be a creature I’d want to mess with.”

Felix’s mouth pulled slightly at the edges, considering laughter, but thinking better of it. “Well,” he said, moving to take more of his soup, “I was thinking that, in addition to the books you asked for, which I did bring,” he went on, and Cait gave him a small smile, “that perhaps, on sunnier days of your next term, perhaps you can have some outdoor lessons.”

Cait blinked. “Outdoor lessons?”

“Yes,” Felix informed her with a nod. “I’ve spoken at length via letter with Professor Wyatt, and he is in full agreement. The pair of you, once the theory is out of the way, will partake in some Care of Magical Creatures lessons outside.”

“Oh, my,” Cait whispered, hardly daring to hope that her lessons would get any more fun then they’d been previously. “Thank you.”

“Just continue behaving as you have been,” Felix said, once they finished their soup, and gave a quick nod of approval as a roast chicken with potatoes and vegetables came into the room on an immaculate tray. “I can see no reason why further privileges cannot bestow themselves upon you if you persist in doing so.”

. . .

The nightmares of Karkaroff subduing her in some way continued, and they would always end with him slicing her to pieces with his dagger, besting her in a duel with Cait being without a wand, or by raping her and leaving her for dead. After each nightmare had taken place, Madam Morar and Marianna would be there for her for a short chat, and a vial of Dreamless Sleep. It was a relief to Cait that they seemed to have a never-ending supply of potions, and Felix never seemed to be upset by her consumption of it.

Cait continued to do well underneath the tutelage of Professor Wyatt, and encouraged him to seek out Marianna whenever he had a spare moment. Cait could see how happy the pair of them were, and, once or twice, wished that she, too could have such happiness. However, even as Cait turned sixteen and celebrated her birthday with her jailer, nothing much seemed to change. Felix permitted her to select the menu and the cake for the evening, and he gave her a great many books—both wizarding and Muggle—as gifts. However, there was no love or tenderness in his eyes whenever he looked at her, as Cait had noticed whenever Professor Wyatt and Marianna had been staring at each other. As Cait struggled to keep her head level as she went through hard study sessions for her NEWTs, she couldn’t help but think that she would be stuck in the Rosier household forever.

Felix stayed away for months after her sixteenth birthday, only sending a few letters every few months, letting Cait know that he was all right. He sent her plenty of books, mostly due to the fact that Professor Wyatt’s reports to him about Cait’s lessons were above satisfactory level. It felt like a breath of fresh air to have her jailer gone, and would frequently invite Marianna to attend her Care of Magical Creature lessons in the expansive gardens of the estate.

“Today we have a lovely creature,” said Professor Wyatt, and whistled slightly, prompting a white winged horse to step out from beneath the foliage of a cherry tree. “If you recall from your reading on the subject of winged horses, Cait, I’m quite positive you can name this one.”

Cait smiled. “Yes, I can. That is a Granian,” she said effortlessly.

“Very good,” Professor Wyatt said. “Approach her slowly, now. She’ll permit you to pet her as long as you’re gentle.”

Cait gave Professor Wyatt a nod as she carefully stepped forward, so as not to spook the animal, and lifted her hand within its line of sight so as it would know what she was doing. Carefully, Cait arrived into her proximity and caressed the fur, which felt as smooth as the finest velvet. “I think you’re lovely,” she whispered, and the horse whinnied.

“You are to think of her as an early wedding present from Lord Felix,” Professor Wyatt said softly, knowing just how Cait felt about her upcoming nuptials. “She’s trained to know where to fly and where not to fly, so you are permitted to fly her.”

Cait nibbled at her bottom lip, initially determined to dislike the animal before her, but found that she could not do so, despite where she had come from. “What is her name, then?”

“She doesn’t have one yet,” Professor Wyatt informed her, from where he was now standing beside Marianna. “Lord Felix believed you would wish to name her yourself.”

Cait looked up into the captivating brown eyes of the animal, and nodded her head. “You shall henceforth be called Marici, after the Goddess of the Heavens, of the Sun, and of Light,” she declared, and Marici quickly lowered her head, permitting Cait to stroke at it. Turning to look over her shoulder, she asked, “Am I permitted to ride her?”

Professor Wyatt nodded. “Of course. She is yours, after all.”

Cait nodded, effortlessly getting onto Marici’s back, and stringing her fingers into the creature’s impressive white mane. “Take flight, girl,” Cait whispered to her.

Marici quickly let out a sound akin to a squeal, and began pawing at the ground with her mighty impressive hooves. Slowly and carefully, she began running along the garden path, prompting Cait to throw herself downwards and wrap her arms around her neck. Heart pounding in her chest, she let out a gasp as Marici took flight, spreading her wings and flapping around along the skyline of the manor. Cait looked all around her, seeing that there was nothing around the manor for miles, other than lines and lines of forest.

When Marici had been flying for close to a quarter of an hour, round and round in circles around the grounds of the estate, Professor Wyatt whistled as he had before, prompting the creature to begin her landing. She did so easily, careful not to jostle Cait too much upon her back, and, once they’d landed safely, Cait slipped off. Waving her hand towards a cluster of apple trees, a red and juicy one came flying from the branches and into her hand.

Turning towards Marici, she offered the horse the apple, palm-flat, and smiled as the horse eagerly accepted the treat from her new mistress. “That good?” she asked, cooing at her, and running her fingers through her hair.

“Did you enjoy your flight?” Professor Wyatt asked.

Cait sighed, the adrenaline and exhilaration quickly dying down, but nevertheless enjoyable all the same. “I did, yes,” she replied, nodding.

“What was it like?” Marianna wanted to know.

Cait smiled slightly then, before turning to look over her shoulder at her closest friend and her tutor, who were so close to falling in love that Cait could practically see it. “It was like being free,” came her reply, before looking skyward once again.

. . .

Cait woke up the morning of her seventeenth birthday feverish and nauseated, but insisted to both Marianna and Madam Morar that she would be fine. She bathed in the ritualistic bathwater that Madam Morar had prepared for her, and was stiff as a board when Marianna put her into her wedding dress. It would have been beautiful, were it not for the fact that Cait was being forced to marry the very man who had imprisoned her.

The dress itself was stunning, with an intricate lace pattern decorating the top portion, and short sleeves. The bottom part was a tulle skirt, in the princess style, and Madam Morar had declared it a gown more than once. Cait stood before the mirror as Marianna clasped the new pearl necklace around her throat, before piling up her hair into an intricate bun, and putting on the tiara, before clasping the veil upon it, and putting it over her face.

Cait walked down the main grand staircase later that evening, a bouquet of lilies acting as her wedding flowers, as she had been permitted to select them. The entirety of the staff was standing by, dressed in their best, to follow Cait into the chapel on the property to witness the wedding of their master and new mistress. Cait kept her eyes down upon the staircase; despite everything, she didn’t want to trip and fall down them. No; she wanted to get everything over with, as she officially signed her life away.

Stepping out of the main entrance of the house, she walked down the garden path and towards the chapel at the east end of the massive gardens. The building, built out of stone, was upon the edge of the property, and was heavily detailed upon the inside, with oil paintings covering every surface of the walls and ceilings. Cait kept her head bowed as she stepped towards the doors, which opened automatically for her, and waited until her musical cue began, with the rest of the staff filing in to sit in the provided pews.

Peeking through her eyelashes, she noticed that Felix had entered via the door he’d been instructed to, and shook hands with the minister, and Cait felt herself growing faint again. She knew that she had to accomplish this, and, despite the trembling in her limbs, she knew that she would be lost if she turned back now. As the traditional song began to play in the impressive pipe organ within the balcony of the church, Cait straightened herself up and stepped through to walk down the aisle. Slowly, she looked up then, and even she had to admit that Felix looked quite dapper in his wedding robes, although she still felt the coldness of his eyes. She turned to the minister once she had approached, and bowed her head briefly to the man, before she took her place beside Felix.

“Face one another, please,” said the minister, and Cait and Felix moved to do so. “Felix, please take Catherina’s right hand in yours, and say your vows.”

Felix clenched his teeth, but nevertheless took Cait’s hand and spoke. “I, Felix Corvus Rosier, take you, Catherina Scylla Krum, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part; according to God’s holy law, in the presence of God I make this vow.”

“And now, loose hands with one another,” the minister ordered, and nodded with approval once the pair had released one another. “I would like you now, Catherina, to take Felix’s right hand in yours, and to say your vows to him.”

Cait swallowed; she had never willingly touched Felix, but, she supposed, she would have to get used to that fact, now that she was swearing to be his wife. Taking up Felix’s hand, she forced herself to speak. “I, Catherina Scylla Krum, take you, Felix Corvus Rosier, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part; according to God’s holy law, in the presence of God I make this vow.”

“You may now loose hands once more,” said the minister, and, once they had done so, snapped his fingers, and Cait was then holding a simple platinum band in her hands, while Felix was holding the rose gold, diamond-encrusted ring which surrounded a sizeable emerald. “Felix, take Catherina’s hand again, and give Catherina her ring and your vows with it.”

Felix reached out and took Cait’s hand. “Catherina, I give you this ring, as a sign of our marriage. With my body, I honor you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you, within the love of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

“Now, loose hands,” came the command from the minister, and the pair did so, Cait feeling the weight of the ring upon her hand. “Now, Catherina, take Felix’s hand, and give him his ring and your vows with it.”

Cait swallowed yet again, but nevertheless reached forward and took Felix’s hand. “Felix, I give you this ring, as a sign of our marriage. With my body, I honor you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you, within the love of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

The minister raised his hands, and Cait and Felix once again broke apart. “In the presence of God, and before this congregation, Felix and Catherina have given their consent and made marriage vows to each other. They have declared their marriage by the joining of hands and by the giving and receiving of rings. I therefore proclaim that they are husband and wife,” he said, and joined their hands together once more. “Those whom God has joined together let no one put asunder,” he declared, smiling to them both, and Cait felt herself growing ill, knowing full well what this was all leading up to. “You may kiss the bride,” he declared, and let them go, and Cait felt as if she would crumple and fall.

Felix took charge of the situation, with turning Cait towards him and lifting her veil. He looked slightly taken aback, and Cait was convinced that it either had to do with the fact that she wasn’t as good as concealing her feelings as she initially thought, or that she somehow looked different in the year that they had been apart. Nevertheless, Felix stepped forward and kissed her, and Cait was not surprised to discover that she felt nothing.

Doing her best not to stumble back up the aisle, they made their way to the minister’s office, where the marriage document was awaiting them upon the table. Felix signed his name with a flourish before handing over the quill to Cait. Painstakingly, Cait dipped the quill into the ink and signed her name where _Bride_ had been written. The words _Catherina Rosier_ stared back at her as the document popped away, the minister letting them know that it would be on file at the Romanian Ministry of Magic immediately.

Heart in her throat, Cait forced herself to accept Felix’s hand as they walked out of the chapel together, with the entirety of the staff having disappeared. Once inside, Felix led them both to the formal dining room, where they were sat at a regal-looking table, and plied with expensive food that Cait had to attempt to force herself to eat. The sun had set long before now, and Cait knew that it was only a matter of time before they were due to share a bedchamber together to consummate the union she had been forced into.

Once Felix took her hand after the meal had completed, and led her back up the grand staircase, Cait knew that a chapter of her life was over. According to the Wizarding World, she was no longer a child. Her NEWTs scores had been proof of that, with her receiving an O in each subject she had taken. With eight Outstanding NEWTs to her name, she supposed she should be happy, but she could not bring herself to be so.

Once she was taken into the room, and Felix had whispered, “_Nox_” before guiding her towards the bed, Cait truly felt ill. Even as she attempted to disassociate from the entirety of the act, she could not do so. Perhaps it was her past with Karkaroff, or it could be the very fact that her groom seemed disgusted with her lack of virginity.

_He knew what he signed up for_, Cait thought to herself, as Felix repeatedly slammed inside her with the intensity of a jackhammer, and Cait resolved that she would wait to be ill once he had finished with her.

. . .

Felix had left a fortnight after their wedding to return to the dragon preserve, and Cait couldn’t have been happier. Her husband had insisted upon their sharing a bed each night, and several times in a row, would reach out for her, drag her towards him, and do what he liked. Thankfully, he wasn’t upset that she wouldn’t participate, and instead, merely lay there and allow him to do what he wanted. Cait was just relieved that she wasn’t required to say or do anything to please her husband, other than lie there, although it filled her with a sick feeling each time his hands crawled along the surface of her skin in the dark.

Now that Professor Wyatt was no longer teaching her, he had been permitted to stay on as added security, and so he wouldn’t have to leave Marianna. Cait wondered when Marianna would receive a marriage proposal, and hoped dearly that it would be soon. It was, and when Christmas arrived, Marianna was presented with a ring by Professor Wyatt, who now was insisting that Cait call him Palaemon, now that he was no longer her instructor. Cait celebrated with them both for a time, but had to beg off more festivities as the hour grew late, and found that she wasn’t feeling up to celebrating.

Almost two weeks had gone by after the engagement and Cait was still feeling ill, and the scents of a great many foods or potions would frequently put her off. She opted for an afternoon nap that day, but Madam Morar came bustling into her rooms before she could fall asleep. Looking tiredly up at the housekeeper, the woman nodded in understanding.

“One Diagnostic Spell coming up,” she said, and aimed her wand at Cait, before dragging it along the entirety of her body. “Oh,” she said, as it flickered her, and immediately stood back and away from her mistress.

“What? What is it?” Cait whispered, feeling exhausted from the after-effects of the spell, as well as whatever illness had afflicted her.

Madam Morar perched on the side of Cait’s bed, and took her by the hand. “How do you see your future?” she asked.

Cait swallowed. “You know very well what I see, Madam Morar. Being away from here and living my life somewhere where I can be free,” she replied.

Madam Morar patted her mistress’s hand, her eyes filled with sadness. “Other than the obvious, my love,” she said gently. “How do you see your future?”

Cait swallowed. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’ve completed my education, and yet find myself in a marriage with the very man who imprisoned me, and one whom I cannot, or will not, ever love. How can I even imagine a decent future?” she whispered.

“I am afraid, my dear, that it will not be an easy one for you,” Madam Morar told her, not letting go of her hand.

“What...? What did you find?” Cait wanted to know. “You found something, didn’t you? What is it? Am I going to be all right?”

“I’d say, by the end of this summer, that you’ll be having a baby,” Madam Morar said, her dark eyes grave.

Cait let out a cry, inadvertently dragging her hand away from Madam Morar’s and clutching at her face as despair flew through her. “I can’t have a baby, I can’t!” she cried out, and Madam Morar patiently went forward and held onto her. “It is one thing for me to be locked away here for the rest of my life, but to actually bring a baby into it...” Cait felt hot tears streaming down her face as she considered it. “What... What if the baby is like him?”

“How could the baby possibly be like Lord Felix, when it’s got_ you_ as its mother?” Madam Morar asked, pulling back and looking at Cait. “No baby you have can be like Lord Felix, despite him being the father.”

Cait trembled in Madam Morar’s arms. “How am I even supposed to like a child, whose father has utterly destroyed my life?” she whimpered.

“Because this child is half you, love,” Madam Morar said gently, and placed Cait’s hands upon her stomach, and Cait was surprised to feel the surge of magical life within. “Before you make any rash decisions, know that this child is a part of you, and not just a Rosier,” the woman said, before pressing a kiss to Cait’s forehead, and leaving her alone.

Cait leaned back on the abundance of bolsters upon her bed, and stared up at the ceiling. Her hands were frozen upon her midsection, and she couldn’t deny that the spark of life within her didn’t fill her with a combination of excitement and trepidation. Perhaps Madam Morar was correct, and the baby would be like her, for she couldn’t even fathom what she would do, should it turn out to be like Felix...


	10. Bitter Harmony

Cait couldn’t have thanked Madam Morar enough for encouraging her to literally sleep on her decision-making when it came to her child. The more she considered it, as winter became spring and an intimate bonding ceremony for Professor Wyatt and Marianna transpired, Cait had come to a decision. Given that Felix seemed mighty pleased with himself at her quick pregnancy, Cait knew that it would likely prove worse for her if she didn’t keep the baby to term.

As her belly continued to grow, Cait took to having long walks in the gardens, while Felix had returned to Romania to continue working with his dragons. Professor Wyatt, whom Cait had been told more than once to call Palaemon, now that he was no longer her tutor, and Marianna seemed to be in an extended honeymoon phase, wandering around the entirety of the estate, just pleased to be together. Cait wondered if the pair of them would have children, as she sat beneath a cherry tree, filled with thick, pink blossoms, allowing her fingertips to caress her swelling stomach, and considered the future.

Chef Alexandre was very excited about the pregnancy, and had read many books about women’s supposed cravings. Cait found it all very amusing as her pregnancy went on, and found that she was nearly ravenous at all hours of the day. Before he had returned to work, Felix had instructed the staff to pamper his pregnant wife in every way she desired, save for returning her freedom. It proved a distraction as she watched her pregnancy progress, eating strange foods, reading all the literature of being a parent that she could get her hands on, and designing a nursery. One thing she always did before going to bed was sing to the baby, who would do backflips while in the womb, and Cait found herself falling in love with her child.

Madam Morar, despite her status as a housekeeper, was also a trained healer, and so she was put in charge of all Cait’s medical needs during her pregnancy. She provided all the potions she would need throughout—the most important one being a concoction in which the vessel for the baby’s body to house their magical core would form correctly. Every couple of weeks, Cait would submit to a scan, and although there was no way to determine the gender, due to their remote location, the child was proving to be strong and healthy. As summer arrived, Cait could no longer see her feet, and would frequently complain of the temperature of the house, as well as her swollen ankles.

Felix returned to the estate in the final week of August and had informed Cait that he would remain for a fortnight, having let the dragon preserve know that, as his heir was arriving, he would be there. Cait gave a tentative nod, knowing how much Felix reportedly wanted a son, and given Marianna’s warning, didn’t want to even consider what could happen if she ended up giving birth to a daughter. Felix seemed to approve of Cait’s activities, as well as the design of the nursery she had come up with, informing her that Palaemon would remain on the staff to teach their child, once they were old enough, and any further children they had. Cait spent the next several days praying to Circe, that the baby would be a boy, and that Felix wouldn’t be bothered to touch her again.

As midnight struck on the twenty-ninth of August, Cait’s eyes snapped open at the tell-tale sensation of pain ripping through her body. Gasping and wandlessly turning on the light in her bedroom, she found that she was drenched in sweat. Throwing back the duvet, she let out a shrill scream at the sight of the puddle of blood emerging from in between her legs, hoping beyond hope that someone would come in there and help her.

No sooner had the scream escaped her lips than the door come crashing open, with Madam Morar and Marianna dashing towards her. Madam Morar was quick to assess the situation, and quickly determined that Cait was in labor, and that her waters had already broken. Barking instructions for Marianna to fetch clean linens, Madam Morar spelled the bedding clean and impenetrable, so as to prevent future messes, and pushed up the long nightgown her mistress was wearing, and clicked her tongue.

“No sign of the head yet, I’m afraid, love,” she said, and ran her hand coaxingly down Cait’s legs, who trembled at the amount of pain flowing throat her. Holding up her wand again, she summoned the pain potions from Cait’s medicine cabinet, just as Marianna returned with the fresh linens. “Good job, girly,” she said affectionately to Marianna, who stood beside Madam Morar, waiting for further instructions. “Give these to Lady Rosier,” she ordered, busily plucking the stoppers from the potion bottles, which Marianna promptly grabbed and tipped down Cait’s throat without hesitation.

Marianna then returned to the en suite, fetching a cold flannel, which Madam Morar charmed to remain cold and wet, and gently pressed it to Cait’s forehead, taking her hand. “Is there anything else we can do for you, my lady?” she asked tentatively.

“You can have this baby for me— Dear Merlin!” Cait screeched as another wave of pain tore through her insides, knowing that it was another contraction.

Marianna gently petted her hand. “You’ll be just fine, my lady,” she assured her, bearing it when her mistress squeezed her hand. “The potions should begin working any moment now, giving way to concentration, and the pushing.”

Cait glared at Marianna, hating that her closest friend could be married to such a kind individual, and that she had been forced into imprisonment, marriage, and motherhood with a man that she could never love. Falling back onto the bolsters, Cait stared up at the ceiling, the cupids painted there becoming blurry with her tears, and she trembled, feeling relief as the pain proceeded to ebb away, due to the effects of the potions.

“There we are now, love,” Madam Morar said gently, noticing that Cait’s body had begun to relax in the interim. “Now that we’ve got all that pain out of the way, do you think you could push for me?”

Cait gritted her teeth, using her free hand to claw at her bedding, but nevertheless complied with Madam Morar’s request. Shutting her eyes and concentrating as best she could, she pictured her birth canal expanding, thus permitting her child to pass through it. There was something that seemed to be dislodging from inside her, and let out a squeak, her eyes snapping open.

“Nothing to worry about,” Madam Morar assured her. “’Tis merely the child getting into its final position to begin its descent.”

Cait wetted her lips and nodded her head, although the movements were jerky at best.

“All right, now,” Madam Morar said, her voice just as soothing as it had always been, “I want you to try for a push now, Cait. Do you think you can do that for me?”

Cait swallowed, knowing that she could accomplish this, as it was literally what women were made for, and still programmed to do. Breathing as deeply as she could, she focused entirely on the sensations flowing through her, knowing that something had to give. As she concentrated on the thing moving inside her, something seemed to breech forth, and a tingling sensation of pain tore through her, and she gasped.

“Wonderful, dear, wonderful!” Madam Morar encouraged happily. “The head has just begun to break forth from within. We’re going to push now, dear. Push!”

Cait gritted her teeth, letting out a series of screams as she pushed, knowing that she would do whatever was possible to bring her child into the world. From the moment she had felt it move from within her, she knew that it was like her, not like Felix. She would raise this child as a good one, letting them know that locking people up against their will was never all right. And, despite its parentage, she would never make the child feel resentment, and always, always show it the love it truly deserved.

With a final scream from Cait, the child, at last, tore itself completely from Cait’s body, and with a final, “Oh, Merlin!” Cait fell back against the pillows behind her, the wail of her baby echoing throughout the room. Looking up, she vaguely saw Madam Morar cleaning the infant, and telling Marianna to get the after-birth potions for Cait. She swallowed the potions once they were given to her, and Cait’s sensations sharpened, and her breath caught in her throat as Madam Morar wrapped the baby in a little blanket and brought it over to her, now freshly-cleaned and cooing softly in the housekeeper’s arms.

“Cait,” Madam Morar said, standing beside the bed with a smile on her face, “may I present the new Mistress Rosier?” she asked, and gently placed the child in Cait’s arms.

Cait let out a sigh of relief that it was all over, and allowed the baby girl to nestle in her arms, her heart tugging from within her as she pressed a kiss upon her daughter’s forehead for the first time, given that the baby stared up at her adoringly. Her eyes were dark and expressive, her skin pale and smooth, and her crop of hair was the same dark brown shade as Cait’s. You would hardly even know that she was Felix’s child, were it not for the stylish Rosier nose, an attractive Greek, in the middle of her face, just between the baby’s eyes and lips. Smiling down at her daughter, she didn’t hear the series of footsteps from outside her bedroom door, but had to quickly comfort the little girl in her arms as it came slamming open.

“Where is my child?!” came Felix’s demanding voice as he stalked into Cait’s bedroom, and Cait gritted her teeth as he looked hungrily down at her, holding the infant. “And is it the son that we’ve all hoped for?” he asked, rubbing his hands together.

“Not even five minutes old and you’re already resulting to a disgusting display of power once you lay eyes upon your child,” Cait said bitingly, and Felix took an unsteady step back, never having listened to Cait talking back to anyone, let alone him. “I have submitted to imprisonment, to marriage, to rape, to a wholly different educational system, and all other things you’ve desired, but it seems as though your luck has run out,” she went on, feeling her magic prickling just beneath the surface of her skin. “On this day, you, Felix Corvus Rosier, bear witness to your line of Rosier dying out, for I’ve borne you a daughter, and I will never permit you to share my bed, let alone touch me, again.”

Felix sputtered. “A—a _daughter_?! But—”

“Further,” Cait went on, cutting across him, not relinquishing her hold upon the baby as she straightened up upon the bed, “you shall never touch _my_ daughter. You shall refrain from all things having to do with her, and, against my better judgement, the only things you shall provide for her are your name, your house, her future education, food, clothing, and, when the time comes, her _rightful_ inheritance.”

“I’ll not stand for this,” Felix declared. “I am Lord Rosier! I shall—”

“Bonds in the Wizarding World can only be broken from a natural death, and this is the bond you wanted to subject yourself to when you married me,” Cait told him calmly. “Poison, assassination attempts... All will prove futile, for despite the company you keep, murder is still frowned upon, especially the Pureblood variety.”

Felix narrowed his eyes, clearly not liking it, but also intelligent enough to know when he had been beaten. “Very well,” he said, straightening up. “The girl shall have my name. Am I permitted to know what other names she will be given?”

Cait stared down at her daughter again, who nestled closer to her, as if she knew they had a common bond against the enemy beside them, despite the fact that he was her father. “I shall be calling her Kymopoleia Liridona Rosier, or ‘Leia’,” she said softly, reminded of one of the few occasions she had been happy in the American foster care system, wherein she had seen the wonderful film, _Star Wars_, and how Princess Leia had left her awed for years to come.

“What in Merlin’s name do those names mean?!” Felix demanded.

Cait effortlessly soothed Leia against her father’s tirade. “Kymopoleia meaning wave-ranging, so as not to forget her mother’s abilities,” she said patiently. “As for her middle name, Liridona, it means free-willed or freedom, for it is something this little girl and I will deeply desire above all things until our deaths or yours, whatever comes first.”

Felix visibly gritted his teeth. “Very well.”

Cait smiled at him in a condescending manner. “Wonderful,” she said, smiling even more broadly when Madam Morar stepped into the room, holding the necessary documents. Cait handed Leia over to her, not trusting her daughter in the arms of her husband, and quickly scrawled down the necessary information, before signing her own name. “There, now,” she said, and handed the document over to Felix, who begrudgingly took the quill and scrawled his own name in the appropriate space.

“Marvelous,” Madam Morar said, taking the parchment back, after she had handed Leia back to Cait, and tapped it with her wand. With a _pop_, it disappeared, and Madam Morar assured both Lord and Lady Rosier that it would be in the hands of the Ministry of Magic in good time. “Just a glorious day indeed,” she said.

“I’m returning to Romania at once,” Felix suddenly announced, and stomped out of the room, his face flaming red and infuriated.

“He didn’t take the news too well, I take it?” Madam Morar asked, once the bedroom door had slammed behind him.

Cait laughed, moving her nightgown aside and permitting Leia to eat for the first time. “The fact of the matter is, Psamathe,” she replied, and Madam Morar looked touched that her mistress was calling her by her first name, “I care not what pleases him or not anymore, despite the fact that he is my husband and jailer,” she finished with a shrug, before returning her attention back to her daughter, feeling happier and more rejuvenated than she had in years.

. . .

Once Felix had left for Romania, Madam Morar handed over the note he had given to the entire staff at the estate, letting them know he would be staying at the dragon preserve for the foreseeable future. Cait didn’t mind this in the slightest; she spent hours doting on her daughter, and was already teaching her words by the time she was six months old. By the time Leia had turned one, she was already speaking little sentences, and Cait was so delighted that she opened up the music room and began teaching her daughter to sing, with Marianna’s help, for, it turned out, she was a very talented pianist.

Milly was delighted at the prospect of having two ladies to dress, and Cait got her hands on the latest catalogues from various children’s boutique stores throughout Europe. Although they could never leave the estate, Cait made sure that Leia was never lacking for anything when it came to enjoyment. It was within weeks of Cait’s delivery of Leia that Marianna informed everyone that she and Palaemon were expecting a child, and their own daughter, whom they called Rosalinda Catherina Wyatt, who quite quickly became Leia’s best friend.

Another change to the household came in the form of Isabella Jackson, an American Muggleborn witch who entered the service of the household as Leia’s personal maid. Isabella was of similar age to Cait and Marianna and, quite soon, all three young women became quite close. It was quite amusing to Cait and Marianna when Isabella rather quickly struck up a relationship with Chef Alexandre, and the meals seemed to be a million times better, now that the chef had someone to love. In no time at all, their engagement was announced, their wedding was planned, and their vows were said, before just a handful of months went by, and Isabella had given birth to a daughter they called Delancey Alexandra Durand.

“Why can you not simply run?” Isabella whispered to Cait, as they stood in the expansive rose gardens on the estate, with Palaemon and Alexandre muttering to themselves beyond, while Cait, Marianna, and Isabella all stood in a row, watching four-year-old Leia, and three-year-olds Rosie and Della running around, playing tag. “You could run, couldn’t you? All the staff loves you, so they’re bound to know how to get you out of here...”

“_Mon dieu_! It is not as simple as that,” Marianna replied; as the oldest in their trio, she had elected herself as the oldest sister of the bunch. “The wards are specially trained not to let anyone but the master, Alexandre, Palaemon, Cudo, or Milly out from them. One false move, and Cait could inadvertently _Avada_ herself. And now that there’s little Leia to consider,” she continued, causing Cait’s insides to somersault, “I hardly think it’s worth the risk.”

Isabella twisted a lock of chestnut-brown hair around her index finger, her green eyes considering all that Marianna had to say. “I never even considered the wards surrounding this place,” she said softly, blushing prettily. “My brother, Hudson, is a wardsmith in the States; he works for the MACUSA,” she explained. “He was always speaking about the benefits and properties of wards... Now, I wish I’d listened to him.”

Cait leaned back against one of the trunks of the expansive oak trees that dotted around the massive estate’s garden. “I can’t risk doing anything that may offend Felix,” she said softly, so as only Marianna and Isabella could hear her. “I may have returned into a good amount of my personality in the wake of Leia’s birth, but he still lords over all of us. One false move, and he could hurt Leia, or take her away from me. Or he could hurt me and hide her somewhere, and then I’d never be able to find her again.”

“She is a delightful mistress,” Isabella observed quietly.

Cait crossed her arms, while clasping her hands upon her elbows. “Honestly, I never even considered having children before the bonding agreement was signed,” she whispered. “I suppose a great many people who don’t know their biological families want children of their own, in addition to finding their natural parents and siblings. I would never dispute their feelings, as everyone’s case within the foster system or an orphanage is different. However, I was just so busy attempting to figure out who I was, plus evading Karkaroff, and attempting to earn good marks at Durmstrang that I never even considered it...”

“If only Purebloods like the Rosier family approved of mind healers,” Marianna said wistfully as she inclined her head, smiling as Rosie let out a playful shout and evaded Della’s hands, while Leia looked from one of them to the other. “It’s a great shame that they’re so set in the old ways that they think it’s, well, evil sorcery.”

“Did you hear about Hogwarts?” Isabella asked, deliberately lowering her voice, as her eyes flashed in a conspiratory manner. “Apparently, one of the professors had a relationship with one of his students last term.”

Cait gasped at how close to home the rumor was. “No, I didn’t,” she whispered to Isabella, while Marianna promptly shook her head. “How is that all right? Surely, said professor knew the student from the time she was eleven...”

“It had to do with the International Student Exchange Program,” Isabella reported. “One of the witches chosen was the one who had the affair with the professor.”

“How do you know about this?” Marianna wanted to know.

“Hudson’s and my cousin, Storm—our mother’s younger sister’s son—was one of the wizards selected for the program,” Isabella explained. “He’s a quiet fellow, and he works in the Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation,” she went on. “Anyhow, he’s had feelings for the witch in question since they began at Ilvermorny. I was three years ahead of them, so I was aware of the burgeoning feelings Storm had, because he’s best friends with Hudson, and they were both in Pukwudgie.”

“What house were you in?” Cait wanted to know.

“Wampus,” Isabella told her. “Anyhow, Storm was chosen, along with the witch in question, and a couple by the name of Samantha Willows and Alabaster Raywood,” she continued.

“What was the name of the other witch? The one Storm had feelings for,” Marianna asked, and Cait quickly deduced her friend was enraptured by the tale.

“Cassia,” Isabella said with a nod. “Cassia Serbus. Her entire name was Cassandra, but Storm said that she hated the name; he didn’t know why,” Isabella said, shrugging. “Anyhow, he heard from Samantha Willows, who’s due to be Samantha Raywood in a few weeks, that Cassia got a job opportunity at the British Ministry of Magic, and has decided to remain in England. She’s graduated from Hogwarts now, just like Storm, Samantha, and Alabaster, and while the three of them went back to the States, Cassia stayed behind.”

Cait felt that telltale sensation of her magic thrumming through her bones and muscles, just beneath her skin, as this young woman’s name was mentioned to her for the second time. She couldn’t understand why such a thing would affect her, given that she had never met the woman, and yet, had plenty of information upon her. Perhaps, she reasoned, as she called out for Leia to come back inside for lunch, Cassia potentially held the key to who she really was.

. . .

It was when a terse letter arrived on the first of November from Felix, informing Cait that he would be coming home for a day, that both riled and frightened her. Cait was instructed to make sure that she and Leia were presentable, as the pair of them would be dining in the formal dining room that evening. Cait softly informed her daughter that her father was coming home, and Cait did not mistake the terrified look in her daughter’s face.

Ever since Leia’s birth, Cait had kept Leia well away from Felix, and he had only been too pleased to accommodate the arrangement, most of the time. He still insisted upon seeing Leia occasionally and Cait had agreed, but on the condition that they couldn’t be alone. This usually came in the form of formal family dinners, where Felix would bark questions at his only child and likely heir, Cait nodding to her, and Leia stumbling over her answers.

“It is all right, Isabella,” Cait said once she had entered Leia’s bedroom on the night in question, a false smile pulling at her lips. “Go and be with Della. I’ll see to Leia.”

“Of course, Cait,” Isabella replied, trailing her fingers through Leia’s long, dark hair for a moment before she slipped out of the bedroom.

“It’s all right, darling,” Cait assured Leia, who promptly bolted across the room and threw herself into her mother’s arms.

“Why does Father still come, Mummy?” Leia asked, trembling, although there were no tears as she clutched onto her.

“Because it is his house, at the end of things,” Cait replied softly. “Though we neither of us like him, we can hardly bar him from returning.”

Leia’s lower lip trembled. “All right, Mummy,” she said at last.

Cait nodded with approval then, and squeezed her daughter one final time before she let her go and crossed over to the expansive wardrobe. Peering inside, she spotted a late-autumn dress that would be perfect for the evening. It was an understated cotton dress that was a grayish-brown color, with ruffled sleeves and skirt, and an oval neckline. Quickly pairing it with burnt-cream-colored tights and black Mary Jane shoes, Cait effortlessly dressed her daughter, before managing to calm her wayward hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“You look beautiful,” she assured her.

Although Leia would have liked to have been held, Cait informed her that it wouldn’t have been acceptable or proper in these circumstances, and took her daughter’s hand as they braved the grand staircase. Once down it, they made their way to the formal dining room, Cait’s turtleneck sweater dress leaving everything to the imagination as they stepped inside, her knee-high brown leather boots clicking on the highly-polished marble floor. She raised her eyes upwards at her husband, situated across the room, peering at an ugly oil wizarding painting that housed his grandparents, Ciarán and Morana Rosier.

Cait cleared her throat when Felix made no move to turn around and, when he did so, she fixed him with a bored expression. “Good evening, Felix,” she uttered.

Felix inclined his head. “Good evening, Cait.” He lowered his eyes then, and they almost immediately affixed themselves upon Leia. “And good evening to you, Kymopoleia,” he said in a formal tone.

“Leia, please, Father,” Leia said softly, yet politely.

Felix gave a stiff nod, and gestured towards the table. “Come and sit. I’m quite sure that Alexandre will be along with dinner shortly.”

Cait felt Felix’s eyes upon her then as she guided Leia across the room and towards the table, and pulled out the massive carved wooden chair for her. Taking Leia’s hand and assisting her up onto the seat, she gently pushed the chair in and squeezed her shoulder, before she ventured over to the foot of the table and took her seat. “How are things at the dragon preserve?” she asked, as she knew full well this would take up a lot of dinner conversation.

“Quite well, quite well,” Felix said with a stiff nod as some of Alexandre’s attendants came into the dining room, a bowl of a creamy tomato soup in each of their hands. Felix inclined his head and sniffed at the steam which entered the atmosphere, and Cait and Leia promptly put their oversized linens into their respective laps. “Thank you, thank you,” Felix said to the workers, and Leia and Cait softly uttered their thanks as well, before the trio slipped back into the kitchen to help prepare the next course.

“Nothing to report, then?” Cait asked, lifting her soup spoon and trailing it upon the red surface of the thick, hot broth in front of her.

“A co-worker of mine is journeying to England very shortly,” Felix put in, after having taken a first bite of his own soup.

“Journeying to England?” Cait asked, perplexed. “Whatever for? And who?”

“He in question would be Charlie Weasley,” Felix said. “You remember me telling you about him on one of my last visits.”

Cait nodded; she did remember. “Yes, I do. He was the one who had the six siblings, one older, and five younger. The last brother was due to begin at Hogwarts this term, and his youngest sibling, the only sister, next year.” Cait hesitated for a moment as she continued sampling her soup; it was quite delicious this evening. “Is he returning to England to visit with his family, then? I can imagine they must miss him...”

“I am quite sure he will see his family, although this was not the purpose of the journey,” Felix told her promptly. “Are you aware of the Triwizard Tournament?”

Cait nodded. “I am aware of it, yes. The Krums liked talking about it.”

Felix gave a stiff nod; although he didn’t typically like it when Cait spoke of her former life, he certainly didn’t mind small comments such as this one. If Cait knew something, he liked to know the source of her knowledge. “I suspect they would have,” he put in. “Anyhow, they have decided to lift the ban upon it, with a restriction in place.”

“What’s a restriction, Father?” Leia asked, speaking for the first time.

Felix turned to his daughter, obviously impressed that she had said the word correctly. “A restriction, Leia, literally means that, although the tournament can take place, there are new rules in place, as a compromise.”

“A compromise?” Leia questioned.

A smile tugged ever so slightly at Felix’s lips, but he was determined not to show it. “That means that many people came together to have a discussion about the event in question. They came to an agreement by saying that some things could happen, and some could not.”

Leia nodded. “I understand now, Father. Thank you,” she said quietly, and lowered her head to continue to enjoy her soup.

“What was the restriction, then?” Cait asked.

“The restriction implemented is that only those seventeen and older can participate in the tournament in question,” Felix explained.

Cait shook her head. “I take it that there will be potential backlash either way.”

“With something so controversial taking place, I wouldn’t doubt it,” Felix responded. “Anyhow, three schools were selected to participate, with Hogwarts playing host. The other schools selected were Beauxbatons in France, and your Durmstrang.”

Cait swallowed the final bite of her soup and gave a stiff nod, placing the spoon in the now-empty white bowl, now stained with the red residue. “Have the selections been put forth, then, or are they waiting?”

“The selections were announced on the final day of October, with interesting results,” Felix said with a shake of his head. “Of Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour was selected. Of Hogwarts, in an unprecedented move, both Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter were chosen.”

A lump developed within Cait’s throat then; despite the knowledge that she possessed in knowing that only one contestant per school could be selected, it didn’t matter as much to her, for despite being locked away for years, she was well-aware of who Harry Potter was, and the hopes he held for the side of the Light within the Wizarding World. Her head snapped up then as the servers came to clear away the soup, and Alexandre came trailing out behind them, holding a massive platter of roast chicken, roast potatoes, and roasted green beans. Each member of the Rosier family inclined their heads in thanks—Leia taught to do so early on, especially when it was made known that Felix wanted his daughter with him at the dinner table. Once the three minor kitchen hands had departed, Alexandre made quick work of carving the chicken, and serving it along with the vegetables, before returning to the kitchen, presumably to finish with their dessert.

“And,” Cait asked, lifting her dinner fork, hating beyond words that her hand was shaking. She knew the answer, she just knew it, but also knew that she had to make an effort to string the words together. “Who was selected from Durmstrang?” she asked.

“Viktor,” Felix said, and Cait felt her heart slamming from within her as he said the word, an evil smirk encroaching upon her husband’s face. “Viktor Krum was selected as the champion from Durmstrang Institute.”

Cait heart slammed within her once again. “And... And why does Charlie Weasley have to go to England?” she managed to get out.

“Why, for the first task, of course,” Felix replied smugly, holding up his golden goblet of wine, which was studded in green emeralds for Slytherin. “Each champion is to be given a dragon to retrieve a golden egg from. It will all be in good fun, of course.”

“Of... Of course,” Cait replied, lowering her eyes, and forcing herself to pick up her knife. She momentarily wondered what it would be like to take the knife and jam it so deep into Felix’s flesh that it would kill him, but she couldn’t. Felix kept his wand on him at all times, and he would likely take seconds to disarm her, and take Leia away forever. No, she reasoned, she would have to continue as things were—biding her time. Always, always biding her time, until the day of freedom would come.

. . .

“You pamper that child far too much,” Felix said scathingly, within a quarter of an hour of his arrival, back at the estate from the dragon preserve at the end of the month.

Cait affixed Felix with a glare; when Leia wasn’t around, she didn’t keep the peace as she typically did. “It’s not merely some minor ailment,” she snapped, not wanting anyone to bad-mouth her daughter under any circumstances whatsoever.

“You honestly expect me to believe that?” Felix sneered back. “The child obviously hates me, likely because she has been poisoned by you against me.”

“And whose fault was that?” Cait demanded. “You’re the one who arranged for your deranged cousin to take custody of a known Pureblood witch to marry, so as you wouldn’t have to actually put in any effort in finding a spouse for yourself.”

Felix’s jaw clenched. “Be very careful with what you’re insinuating right now, Cait.”

“What? The truth?” Cait spat. “I’m hardly alluding to lies here, Felix. You know quite well that you were more than willing to take me prisoner, attempt to groom me into subservience, and then force me to marry you. I don’t understand how anyone can be so cruel...”

“You know plenty about cruel, Dark wizards, Cait,” Felix replied in an impatient matter. “I am hardly the first who had corrupted you.”

“Corruption, for the most part, implies that the submissive party is willing,” Cait said, glaring daggers at Felix. “What you and Karkaroff did to me was rape—nothing more, nothing less. I was never willing.”

“If you were not willing, you would have screamed and shouted, and possibly begged and cried, for one of both of us to cease our actions, and you know it. Given all the power you so obviously have, you could have overtaken us.”

Cait smiled bitterly at the man who was her husband. “Ah, but Felix, just because I did not verbally say ‘no’, doesn’t mean I wanted it,” she replied plainly. “The fact of the matter is, both you and Karkaroff have something in common, besides the darkness of your souls.”

Felix sneered, “Oh? And what do I have in common with the likes of _him_?”

“You both had a hold over me,” Cait told Felix steadily. “With Karkaroff, he threatened to bad-mouth me to the Krums, so badly that they would reverse their adoption upon me and banish me from their home,” she informed him. “As for you, we have a child together. Leia is my world, and I’m clever enough to know that, were I to push you to far, you could bring damage onto her or onto me, and potentially remove her from my life.”

“Leia is my daughter, too,” Felix said gruffly.

“A daughter you didn’t even want!” Cait snapped back. “She has your name, plus your income to help feed, clothe, and educate her, but, other than that, you do nothing! You never ask about her in your letters, nor do you deliberately seek her out when you’re here.”

Felix launched himself to his feet then. “I _cannot_ deliberately seek her out, as you have banned me from doing so!”

“Doing so on your own, and rightfully so!” Cait said, standing up as well. “Given what you have put me though, how am I to know how you would treat Leia on her own?”

Felix’s eyes went flat-black. “What are you saying?” he growled.

“I’m saying that I don’t know how appropriate you would be with our daughter, were I ever to leave the two of you alone,” Cait told him.

Felix’s jaw set then. “The mere suggestion of that, Cait, is the darkest, most disgusting and abhorrent thing imaginable,” he said softly.

“How am I to know any different?” Cait demanded scathingly. “Karkaroff raped me, your cousin kidnapped me to only be raped... The two prominent men in my life so far, save for my boyfriend, younger brother, and father, have all abused me in some manner. How am I to assume that you will treat Leia accordingly, when you’ve not afforded me the same luxury?”

“You act as if you wish to be treated accordingly.”

“Not in the manner you are thinking, I assure you,” Cait told him, deliberately stepping back and away from her husband. “I want mine and Leia’s freedom. I want to take her away from this oppressive place. Let us go, Felix.”

Felix came forward in two strides then, wrapping his hand roughly around Cait’s arm, and Cait gasped aloud at the sensation, knowing it would be hard enough to bruise. “I’ll not let my wife and my heir leave the ancestral family home of Rosier,” he growled at her. “You signed a lifetime contract, Cait—”

“I had no choice—!”

His eyes flashed at the momentary interruption. “—which applies to both you and any children we have. Nothing will ever break this bond, nothing,” Felix shoved her roughly away then, and Cait nearly tumbled backwards on the uneven rug.

“I’ll be eating my dinner upstairs, after checking upon _my_ daughter,” she said, turning around, not permitting Felix to see how much she was rubbing at her inflamed arm, but stopped and hesitated for a moment in the doorway. “It is not merely a childish ailment, you know. What is plaguing Leia, I mean,” she said, her voice a mere whisper. “Leia’s got Dragon Pox. I just thought you should know...”

“Speaking of dragons,” Felix said, and Cait stopped walking away a second time, “the first task apparently went off without a hitch at Hogwarts.”

Cait didn’t turn around. “And the victor?” she asked.

“Your brother had to battle a Chinese Fireball, and he tied for first with young Harry Potter, who took on a Hungarian Horntail,” Felix told his wife smugly. “As far as I know, but wizards came out singed, but not overtly harmed.”

Cait straightened herself out then. “Yes, well, we magical folk must prevail, even when circumstances around us attempt to prevent it,” she said, and hurried to leave the room, to get upstairs to her sick daughter, not wanting to hear any more of the poison coming out of her enforced husband’s lips.


	11. Day of Reckoning

Cait resolved to keep Leia as far away from Felix as possible, due to the distress she was so often in whenever her father was about. She held her tongue throughout the rest of her de facto husband’s visit, but visibly breathed a sigh of relief when he returned to Romania. Christmas passed, along with the New Year and Valentine’s Day, and Cait wondered if they would be granted more respite time until Easter. However, it was not to be, as Felix sent a letter in the final week of February, informing his wife that he would be returning in the first week of March, and that their staff had better be prepared for him.

Muttering obscenities under her breath so as Leia couldn’t potentially pick up upon the language herself, she set to work with the preparations. Milly was instructed to buy spring dresses for both her and Leia, so that both mother and daughter would be outfitted accordingly, in accordance to their status as Lady Rosier and Mistress Rosier. Cait could see how Leia’s facial expressions turned hard and serious as the days counted themselves down, and as the staff ran about the estate to prepare it for Felix, and Cait knew that her daughter was dreading her father’s homecoming, but there was nothing Cait could do about it.

It was the third of March when Felix arrived, traipsing about the manor and hollering for his belongings to be collected, food to be served, and for his wife and daughter to present themselves to him. Cait, as always, took Leia by the hand, with both garbed in their new dresses, and headed downstairs to the main dining room, knowing that Felix had never been a man who enjoyed being kept waiting. Cait inclined her head upon arrival, with Felix doing the same, although his expression softened visibly when he laid eyes upon Leia, who squeezed her mother’s hand, knowing that there was little else she could do beneath her father’s watchful eye.

“Ah, I see you’re looking quite grown up these days, Leia,” Felix said, remembering quite well that his daughter preferred the abbreviated version of her name.

“Yes, Father,” Leia responded softly. “I am four-years-old.”

Cait swallowed, hoping beyond hope that Felix appreciated the letters regarding Leia’s education that both she and Palaemon had been sending him. Ever since Cait had passed her NEWTs with flying colors, Palaemon had been instructing Leia in preliminary subjects, just touching on magical theory at this point, due to her young age. It was to be expected that any child of two Purebloods would be powerful, and Leia was grasping the theory excellently so far, and she had already displayed impressive acts of accidental magic.

“Yes, I was here when you were born, Leia,” Felix said with a dismissive wave of his hand, and Cait’s heart clenched with anger as he moved towards the head of the table. “Well, come. We’d best get dinner preparations underway.”

Cait led Leia to her chair under her husband’s scrutinizing gaze, but did not afford him the time of day as she waited for her daughter to settle, before she herself ventured to the foot of the table and sat down herself. “How was your journey back?”

Felix inclined his head as the ornately-carved wooden doors opened behind him, with three members of the kitchen staff stepping out, each bearing a bowl of vegetable soup. “Thank you, gentlemen,” he said in that formal monotone voice of his, and waited for them to step back into the kitchen before he answered Cait’s question. “Much better than the last time I visited,” he replied, picking up his soup spoon and motioning for Cait and Leia to do the same. “Now that the Triwizard Tournament no longer has need of our dragons, things on the reserve have been much more relaxed of late.”

Cait looked down into the clear broth, which housed scallions, new potatoes, carrots, celery, and pearl onions. “Surely there are still tales to tell among all the workers,” she put in, as she carefully brought the spoon to her lips.

“But of course, especially since Charlie Weasley is a fellow worker of mine, and that he’s got three brothers and one sister still at Hogwarts. Not to mention that his youngest brother is best friends with Harry Potter himself,” Felix said, humming around his bite of soup.

Cait pursed her lips. “I would have thought that young Potter would have much more sense in choosing his friends, ever since the entirety of the student body believed that he put his name in the Goblet of Fire,” she observed. “He is a mere fourteen-year-old, a fourth-year, and although he is reportedly powerful, surely even he wouldn’t be so foolish as to willingly enter himself into such a binding magical contract such as that... And for his best friend to turn against him with the drop of a wand... Well, I sincerely hope that he comes through the ordeal unscathed...”

“What do you know?” Felix asked.

Cait raised her eyes towards her husband. “Nothing other than what you’ve already deemed appropriate to tell me,” she said, doing her best to keep her tone neutral. “Why? Is there something I should know?”

“There are rumors that the Dark Lord is planning something,” Felix said offhandedly, having now finished his soup.

Cait waved at Leia when Felix wasn’t looking, urging her to finish her soup as well, while she did her best to do the same. “But everyone says that Potter bested him at the age of fifteen months in Godric’s Hollow, when his parents were murdered,” she said softly, hating that she had to appear detached from the entire ordeal, although she truly felt for this young man that she had never met. “Are you one of those people out there who believes that You-Know-Who is going to plan a return?”

“A mere fifteen-month-old could _not_ best the Dark Lord,” Felix said, whispering dangerously, his dark eyes affixed upon Cait. “Never underestimate him, Cait. _Don’t_.”

Cait clenched her teeth, her hands slipping into her lap when the now-empty bowls were levitated to the kitchen, and the same three staff members came out, each holding a platter which would likely contain their dinner. When placed before her, Cait detected the breaded cutlet of veal, pasta with a delectable-looking cream sauce, and mushrooms on Felix’s plate. Like Cait, Leia didn’t like mushrooms, and so they were both served a small Caesar salad. Their Gillywater was freshened up, while Felix tapped his goblet, which filled with more wine, and then the three staff members slipped back into the kitchen.

“Oh, and before I forget,” Felix said, lifting up his knife and fork, and pointing the former at his wife, “the second task of the tournament went off without a hitch.”

Cait raised an eyebrow. “Did it?”

“Yes. Something precious was taken from each of the champions, and hidden within the depths of the Black Lake,” Felix reported. “Potter was given Charlie’s brother, Diggory was given that girlfriend of his, Cho Chang, and Delacour couldn’t finish the task.”

“Why not?”

“Her Bubble-Head Charm was rendered ineffective,” Felix said with a shrug. “Potter then had to go and show off and save her younger sister...”

“And Viktor?” Cait asked softly.

“His precious person was a filthy Mudblood known as Hermione Granger; best friends with Potter and the youngest Weasley male,” Felix replied, wrinkling his nose, and Cait tried to hide her stiffening body at the harsh words of her husband.

“Felix, please,” she said softly. “I won’t tolerate such language in front of Leia...”

“She deserves to know what decent people, or reportedly decent people, are associating with these days,” Felix snapped. “Anyhow, he charmed his head into a shark. It was supposed to be a Full-Body Spell, but, apparently, what he lacks in charms, he makes up for in athleticism,” her husband continued with a sneer.

“And how did Viktor fare in the competition?” Cait asked softly.

“Placed third, due to Potter’s heroics,” Felix said with a roll of his eyes, almost as if he didn’t think Potter’s heroism deserved any merit. “The strangest thing of all, though, was what happened during the task, before Potter surfaced, I mean...”

Cait blinked. “What was so strange?” she asked.

“The wards at Hogwarts were disturbed,” Felix said.

Cait cocked her head to one side. “Disturbed? How?”

“When you were at Durmstrang,” Felix said, cutting into his cutlet with vigor, “were there Anti-Apparition Wards, that could only be broken by the headmaster?”

Cait’s stomach turned at the indirect mention of Karkaroff, and picked up her goblet of Gillywater, sipping it slowly. “Yes,” she said quietly.

“Well, the same charms exist around Hogwarts, and I assume Beauxbatons, Ilvermorny, and the rest of the magical schools,” Felix said. “Anyhow, the wards were disturbed because an Auror, who was the Auror liaison assigned to the tournament by the ministry, was able to break through them and Apparate from the makeshift stands, located in the middle of the Black Lake, all the way into the owlery.”

Cait swallowed. “Am I to assume that is a great distance?”

“A good mile and a half or so,” Felix said with a nod, “but the fact that this woman—a young woman, mind you—was able to break through the wards successfully, without doing damage to herself or others, is no small feat.”

“Who was she?” Cait asked. “Do you know?”

“Yes,” Felix said, tracing the rim of his goblet. “I’m told her name is Cassia Serbus, and she is one of the youngest Aurors that the British Ministry of Magic has in their employment at the moment currently,” he said quietly, and Cait’s eyebrows raised, wondering, and not for the first time, just who this mysterious witch was.

. . .

It was well-past midnight on the final day of June when there was a bang from somewhere downstairs, and Cait immediately threw back her covers and made a grab for her dressing gown and slippers. Not wanting to risk Leia awakening, she ran quickly from her room and down the staircase, heart hammering in her chest, until she arrived in the parlor outside the formal dining room, and her jaw dropped to see Felix standing there. Hesitating in the doorway, she waited for him to notice her and when he did, he grinned a horrific grin at her.

“What’s the matter?” Cait hissed at him, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her, her expression darkening. “Have you gone mad? Leia is asleep upstairs—”

“Forget about Leia,” Felix demanded darkly, and Cait swallowed, nearly stumbling backwards at the harshness in Felix’s tone.

Cait had been feeling off for the past several hours, so much so that Isabella had to be the one to put Leia to bed that night. She had spent the better part of half an hour doubled over in her bathroom, vomiting, wondering where these pains, which she was quite positive were phantom in nature, were coming from. Shaking her head to clear it, she saw Felix fingering something upon his arm, and cautiously stepped closer. “What’s going on?” she asked.

Felix gave her that terrifying grin once again, and Cait had to struggle not to double backwards at the implications it held. “He’s back,” her husband declared.

Cait’s mouth went dry. “What? Who—?!”

Felix tore up his sleeve then, and the skin of his arm was overtaken by mark which sent chills up Cait’s spine. The mark itself was that of a skull, black in color, with a snake wrapped around the head of the thing, and its head twisting and hissing at the base of it. “My lord has returned,” Felix said, his voice one of pride.

“Merlin, how could you have gone and done it?” she whispered, pulling her dressing gown more tightly around herself, despite the hot weather.

Felix’s eyes snapped to hers then. “What?!” he demanded.

Cait’s eyes locked with his. “What?” she whispered, her voice nearly trembling.

Felix stepped closer then, and Cait did her best to move away from him, although all she ended up doing was crashing into the wall behind her. Felix held up his arm again, the snake coiling and hissing upon it, and held it directly beneath Cait’s face. “Say something else,” he said, and it was anything if not a command.

“What do you want me to say?” she asked, distracted by the notion that the snake was curling about upon the surface of her husband’s skin.

“_I like thisss one_,” the snake suddenly declared.

“_You like me_?” Cait replied, unknowingly hissing back at the creature. “_Why_?”

“_There aren’t many witchesss or wizardsss who have the ability to ssspeak to me_,” came the reply, which could only be described as soothing.

“_Ssspeak to you_?” Cait asked in reply. “_Am I not ssspeaking in a way that othersss would be able to underssstand me_?”

“_You are ssspeaking the language of the sssnakes_,” came the hissing reply. “_You are ssspeaking Parssseltongue_.”

Felix suddenly whipped out his hand and grabbed Cait’s arm, which broke her focus from the Dark Mark, and her eyes were locked to his again. “My wife is a Parseltongue,” he whispered then, almost gleefully, and there was that raw hunger in his eyes again, one she had not seen since their wedding night, and Felix believed it was now for him to take what he had believed to be his due.

“Felix...”

“Come, my wife,” he said, in a manner which he surely believed was meant to be coaxing, “let us adjourn upstairs. Perhaps we can give Leia a little brother.”

“No,” Cait said firmly.

Felix raised an eyebrow, and tightened his grip upon her. “No?”

“No. I told you as much upon the occasion of Leia’s birth that you will never touch me again, and I meant it,” she said, and wrestled herself from his grasp, and shoved away from him. “I may be your wife, Felix, but you do not own my heart. No one ever shall.”

“Very well,” Felix said, but Cait didn’t believe him for a moment that she had won the battle, and moved to leave the room. “Oh. There was a casualty this evening.”

Cait turned around. “What?”

“At Hogwarts; it was the third task earlier this evening,” Felix informed her. “Anyhow, Potter and the Diggory boy apparently went for the cup together. They didn’t account for the cup being a Portkey, which took them into the Little Hangleton Graveyard, where Potter and Lord Voldemort faced off. Although my lord made a play for Potter’s death, he was, unfortunately, unsuccessful in his endeavor.”

“I see,” Cait said. “Surely, he was not the casualty...”

“No, although the world would have been a lot better off had he have been,” Felix told her, and Cait affixed him with a glare. “Anyhow, the casualty was Diggory.”

“Diggory?”

“Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff, the other Hogwarts champion,” Felix said, and laughed, a laugh filled with victory for his lord. “The Dark Lord ordered him executed, and his faithful servant Wormtail—filthy little rat that he is—carried out the deed.”

“Oh,” Cait whispered. “I see...”

“With the blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, my lord was able to rise again this night,” Felix declared. “And now, now that he has the blood of Harry Potter running through his veins, the boy will be unable to stop him.”

Cait’s eyes swept upwards then, locking with Felix’s. “Meaning?”

“Meaning that the boy will die unless he agrees to join my lord and his cause,” Felix declared, and suddenly stepped forward again, grabbing onto Cait. “We are his faithful servants, Cait,” he declared then, and grabbed ahold of her arm then, before she could struggle away from him. “As his faithful servants, we should all look the part, do you not think?”

Cait struggled against him then, beating upon Felix’s chest with her fists. “Felix, you’re not thinking clearly!” she shouted. “Let me go!”

“Do not make me immobilize you, my pretty wife,” Felix sneered, and grabbed ahold of Cait’s arm without hesitation then, jamming the tip of his wand into her skin. “_Morsmordre_!” he said through gritted teeth, and a flash of green light erupted from the tip of his wand, and burned deeply into that of Cait’s skin.

Cait screamed aloud then as the mark was given, and her legs buckled; with Felix no longer holding her upright, she crumpled at his feet, clutching her arm to her chest. “You monster,” she said through her tears, her voice trembling. “You utter monster...”

Felix kicked her where she had fell. “I must return to the reserve before they notice that I am missing,” he said, not sparing her a second glance. “Have Madam Morar give you all the pain potions you wish. Have a good night, then, wife,” he said, and stepped through the Floo without looking back.

Cait slowly peeled her hands back from where Felix had burned her skin beyond repair. Getting slowly to her feet then, upon trembling legs, she stared at her arm for the first time, her stomach turning at the sight of the Dark Mark, now etched into her skin.

. . .

Cait was filled with an immeasurable amount of relief when Felix informed her via a terse note the following day that he had no plans to return to the estate for the foreseeable future. Trying to get back to a sense of normalcy—and relieved that Palaemon was proficient in Disillusionment Charms to keep Leia’s questions about her arm at bay—life had a way of going on. Just as Cait believed that normalcy had finally been achieved—in a way that normalcy can be attained when one is imprisoned and has been, in one way or another, for the better part of half a dozen years—there was another strange visitor in the dead of night.

Cait sensed the magic as it passed across the wards; it was familiar, but it did not belong to that of her husband. With Leia already asleep, Cait put aside her lesson plan for her daughter the following day and made her way down the main staircase and towards the front door. Although the magic was a familiar sensation, she could not place it; it was a thunderstorm that night, so whomever it was, the poor creature was obviously seeking shelter for the night.

Cait threw open the main doors and peered out, seeing the stumbling figure of someone on the main pathway coming towards her. Stepping outside, but still remaining beneath the stretch of roof, she put her hand above her eyes in an effort to see the person more clearly. It did no good, as Felix was not home, and the lights outside were not permitted to be lit. It was a miracle that this poor soul had even managed to find this place at all, due to the weather.

“It’s all right,” Cait called out.

The figure peered through the darkness at her.

“Come along inside. There’s plenty of room. Some food and some sleep will do you good,” she said, and offered a hand, which became slightly damp with the rain.

The figure finally stumbled into view, which gave Cait the clear impression that it was a man, as she helped the gentleman into the house. Pulling him towards the parlor, upon shutting the front door behind them, she led him into the warm room, which had a sensor within its fireplace, allowing it to roar to life whenever someone entered the room. Gently pushing the man into the chair, she called for Madam Morar to bring a flannel of some kind and, once the command was given and met, Cait stood before the man and began drying him off. As she did so, however, and the rain and dirt caked to his skin came away, and she finally got a look upon her guest, she dropped the flannel and stumbled backwards.

“You,” she breathed, her voice filled with utter loathing.

Slowly, the man raised his face towards his apparent savior, and the disgraced Headmaster of Durmstrang was staring back at her. “Ah,” he said. “Catherina...”

“Don’t you dare call me that!” Cait shouted, standing as tall as she possibly could before this weakened man.

“It appears as if you’ve done well for yourself in the wake of your disappearance,” Karkaroff observed, looking around him. “So, this is where you’ve been all this time, has it? In the Orkney Islands of Scotland, it appears,” he said.

Cait’s mind momentarily flashed at the notion that she finally knew exactly where she was, but forced her curiosity to be momentarily kept at bay, and drew herself up to her full height. “You’ll not speak in the presence of a lady,” she said, glowering down at him.

Karkaroff cocked an eyebrow. “A lady?”

“Lady Rosier,” she said, showing him the official wedding ring of the Rosier family, which had been kept in the Rosier family vault at Gringotts until Felix had retrieved it upon the occasion of their wedding nearly five years before.

Karkaroff appraised his former victim with a sneer. “He can’t have taken you as his wife willingly,” he said with a scowl. “After all, you were damaged goods, given that you’d already spread your legs for your headmaster beforehand—”

Cait, without hesitation, reached out and backhanded him across the face, the impressive jewel of her wedding ring slashing him deeply in his cheek. “One can hardly call it damaged, when such a thing was taken from me by force,” she growled back. “I was a child, Igor, a _child_!” she cried out, forcing her voice not to break, but only just. “How can you live with yourself?”

“Give that you were not the first of my students I invited into my office under false pretenses, and gave false promises to, and whispered nonsense endearments into her ear...” He spread his hands with an evil grin upon his face. “You must know by now, Catherina, that you were hardly my first victim.”

Cait gritted her teeth. “Survivor,” she informed him. “I survived. Although I may have traded one prison for another, and I am made to remain with a man I loathe more than life itself, at the very least, he understands the word ‘no’.”

“But you cannot forget my hands on you,” Karkaroff said.

Cait let out a scathing sound and turned her back upon him. “Shut up.”

“And why would I listen to you now, seeing as I did not do so when you were my student?” he asked, and Cait could sense him rising to his feet from behind her. “Perhaps you need a little refresher course in respect,” he declared menacingly.

Cait looked up then, and saw her reflection in the gilt-framed mirror upon the wall opposite, and noticed that Karkaroff had slinked towards her. She swallowed, her Adam’s apple bobbing from within her throat, as he moved closer still, menacing as he had had been from the time she had met him when she was just a child. And then he was reaching out then, moving aside her long hair, and moved to press his repulsive lips to the back of her neck—

“_No_!” Cait shouted, the word tearing from her throat then as she whipped around, and grabbed ahold of the man, shoving him back and away from him. “I said it then, and I mean it now just as much as I did when I was a teenager! Don’t you fucking touch me, you monster!”

“What can you possibly do?” Karkaroff said, arching his salt and pepper eyebrow, and Cait fully realized, for the first time, just how much time seemed to stand still within the walls of the Rosier estate, and how much it appeared that her former headmaster had aged. “What kind of power could you possibly wield over me? You, a mere _girl_?”

Cait faced him squarely then, and dragged back her sleeve, exposing her Dark Mark; it was the third she had ever seen, with Felix’s being the second, and Karkaroff’s being the first. She found that she was positively smirking then as Karkaroff’s eyes widened at the sight of the mark, etched into her skin, and Cait slowly raised her arm so that it was eye-level to her, and she could stare at the snake, thus enabling her to speak its language.

“_Thisss man wronged me_,” she hissed, and the snake immediately came to life, coiling itself dangerously in the direction of Karkaroff, who seemed to double over in pain then, as the snake upon its own arm hissed with anger. “_He took what no man ssshould ever take by forccce_,” she went on, and the snakes hissed treacherously at her words. “_Tell me—what ssshall his ultimate punissshment be, my pretty little friendsss_?”

“_Death_!” both snakes seemed to hiss at once. “_Death to the traitorousss beassst_!”

“_Attack, my little friendsss_,” Cait ordered. “_Come to life, and attack! Avenge me, in thisss moment, kill the traitor who hurt me_!”

The snakes seemed to burst to life then, the etchings darting forth, and moving simultaneously towards Karkaroff, hungry looks in their respective eyes. Karkaroff was effectively backed into a corner, and the snakes suddenly launched themselves at the man. Their fangs came out half a moment later, and struck, right in the man’s neck, their deadly poison immediately transferring onto the dreadful waste of a human being. Cait stood there, nearly motionless, but for the small smile upon her face as she watched the man who had made several of her childhood years a pure and living hell.

Karkaroff’s screams caused her to feel vindicated, for no longer would the wretched man be able to hurt those who believed him to be trustworthy. He thrashed this way and that, attempting to get the snakes to let him go, but it was no use. As they pricked him with their mighty fangs, his life force was draining, and his heart’s ability to pump blood accordingly was becoming faulty, due to the poison now overtaking his senses.

Cait slowly stepped forward then, when the snakes had ceased her command; one of them traveled up her arm, returning to the motionless pursuit of being a part of her Dark Mark, while the second went onto Karkaroff’s arm and became still. Cait looked into Karkaroff’s eyes then, and saw a spark of life remaining within them, and smiled at him. Turning slightly, she saw the suit of armor that Felix was particularly proud of; it had been in the Rosier family for hundreds of years, according to him, and was one of the most preserved family heirlooms the house had out in the open.

Holding out her hand, Cait whispered, “_Accio _sword,” and it flew flawlessly into her hand. As she turned back towards Karkaroff, she gave him an evil smile as she stared down him. “Had you attempted to be remorseful, I may have forgiven you,” she told him. “You, however, are of that special breed of human who feels no remorse for their wrongdoing. As a result, for your crimes against me, for Lisa, and for Merlin knows how many other students who hurt, humiliated, or betrayed, I sentence you to death,” she declared and, without hesitation, drew up the sword, and stabbed Karkaroff determinedly in his chest. However, she soon found that once was not enough, and she recalled every word, every touch, ever foul thing that he did to her... “_Fuck you_!” Cait suddenly screamed, and slammed the sword into the man again and again, becoming covered in his blood in the process. “You _impregnated_ me, you sick son of a bitch! How _could_ you do what you did to me?! How could you, you fucking bastard?!”

“Cait, Cait!” came the shouts from behind her, minutes, hours, days later, and, when the sword finally clattered to the floor, did she know her trance-like state was over. Madam Morar came immediately towards her then, muttering a “_Tergeo_,” quite quickly and drew her mistress into her arms. “Who is this man?” she whispered.

“Karkaroff, former Headmaster of Durmstrang,” Cait managed to get out. She was trembling in Madam Morar’s arms, unknowing what had come over her. Although the irrational part of her felt vindicated because of her actions, she feared that Leia could be taken away from her, if were ever found out that she had...

“The man who did those horrible things to you before you came here?!” Madam Morar demanded, her voice livid.

“Yes,” Cait whispered, her eyes filling with tears as Madam Morar pulled her closer. “He needed shelter from the storm... I didn’t know it was him... And then when I did...he wouldn’t apologize for all that he’d done, and then he... He tried to...”

“Palaemon, Alexandre!” Madam Morar shouted, and Cait nearly stumbled backwards at the wandless and wordless Sonorous Charm utilized by Madam Morar. The men came into the room promptly, and quickly took note of the dead body before them all. “Take this outside and into the gardens, both of you,” she said softly. “Wake Wilson, and have him bury it. Go, now!” she yelled at them both, and they both scuttled to do her bidding, taking the body of Igor Karkaroff out of the parlor and out of sight. Madam Morar turned back to Cait then, and smoothed her hair with a soft smile. “I shall summon Marianna and Isabella to assist me in clearing up the parlor, and you should take a bath and go to bed...”

“But...”

“It shall be as if our unwanted guest was never here,” Madam Morar said, gently speaking over Cait, and squeezed her shoulder. “Go upstairs now, dear. Hurry along now.”

Cait stumbled out of the room, trying to recall how to walk, and swallowed, knowing that no good could possibly come of this. As she mounted the staircase, she heard Madam Morar shouting for Marianna and Isabella’s assistance, and sighed. _No_, she reasoned to herself, _no good could possibly come of this_, she thought, as her mark began to burn.

. . .

“No, no, _no_!” Felix shouted for what must’ve been the twentieth time that hour, as he paced back and forth within the schoolroom, attached to Cait’s chambers. “If Leia were a boy, my proper son and heir, it wouldn’t have been like this!”

“Will you keep your voice down?!” Cait hissed, peering between the stacks of books, beside them, where she could plainly see Leia working on her geography with Palaemon. She was, in her view, progressing as appropriately as any seven-year-old child could, and the fact that everyone around her seemed to be aging was not helping, however... “I know you’re still disappointed that she’ll be the only heir for you, but I will not have my daughter’s feelings hurt because of _your_ failings!”

“My failings? _My_ failings?!” Felix demanded, jabbing a finger into his chest. “What in Merlin’s name are you talking about?!”

“It’s a myth that a woman can decide the child’s sex!” Cait said through gritted teeth. “It is the man’s sperm which decides such things! I had nothing to do with Leia being a girl but, if you ask me, she’s intelligent and a wonderful child!”

“Which I wouldn’t know a damn thing about, of course!”

“And rightly so, given that I would never willingly permit you to be alone with her!”

“This argument you have is getting quite old, Cait,” Felix said, lowly, dangerously. “The fact that you would even think that I would even _look_ at Leia like—”

“Like what? Property? A piece of cattle?” Cait spat at him. “She goes above and beyond all that you could possibly ask of her! I know that she is not a boy, Felix, but she’s better than ten boys put together!”

“Boys can study war and politics—”

“It is nearly the twenty-first century!” Cait growled back. “We’re two years from it, and there’s nothing preventing Leia from learning such subjects, other than your pigheadedness and unwillingness to move beyond the ancient times you insist we’re still in!”

“It does not change the fact that girls learning such topics aren’t traditional!” Felix said, and grabbed ahold of Cait’s arms, hard. “My lord is set to attack Hogwarts this night, Cait, and when he does, and vanquishes the boy, we will be at his side forevermore!”

“I cannot stop you from believing in that madman’s cause, but you know how I feel about him and all that he stands for,” Cait said, and attempted to pull back and away from him.

“You bear his mark! You are, by default, a supporter!”

“I bear his mark by force!” Cait said, and continued to struggle against Felix’s grasp, but failed miserably in doing so. “You gave it to me when I was caught unawares! No matter what you say, I will never support your Tom Riddle, Felix! Never!”

“His name is Lord Voldemort, and you will do well to show him respect!” Felix replied, his tone a scathing one. “And perhaps, if you will not, I will have to take Leia from you!”

“You wouldn’t!” Cait shouted, and hated it when her voice broke. “You will never take Leia from me, Felix!”

“Leia bears my name, so she is my child, no matter what you say!” Felix shouted then. “Had you given me a son, things would have been different! So, perhaps, you should give me what is my due, and mayhap things would be better for you!” he declared, and attempted to open up her blouse in a forceful manner.

“No, no!” Cait screamed. “Don’t!”

“You must obey me!” he shouted, and knocked Cait backwards, sending her flying into a bookcase upon the opposite wall, and almost immediately caused her vision to waver.

“Mama!” came Leia’s shout as she launched to her feet, and rushed towards Cait.

“Leave your wretch of a mother alone!” Felix ordered, and moved to step towards Leia. “You have been a disappointment to me thus far, Leia, but, now that she is out of the way, I know that I will be able to train you up in a manner most sufficient—”

“_No_!” Leia shouted then, holding out her hands, in an effort to protect both her and her mother, and a great beam of white light burst forth from them. The light immediately sent Felix careening backwards onto the opposite wall, made of stone, and cracked his head open without mercy, before he, too crumpled to the floor.

Palaemon immediately ran forward, Felix’s bubble of silence having dropped the moment he hit the wall. Checking his pulse, he found that his master was dead, and let out a gasp of relief. “And so it ends,” he whispered.

“Mama? Mama!” came Leia’s shouts from behind him then, and, when Palaemon turned and looked behind him, he saw Cait’s eyes fluttering open.

“Leia!” Cait gasped then, reaching out and catching ahold of her daughter. Feeling stronger than she had in years, she got to her feet, somehow managing to keep ahold of Leia, and turned to meet Palaemon’s eyes. “Is he...?”

“Yes,” Palaemon said with a nod. Getting to his feet then, he went towards Cait, his expression one of triumph. “Now, the two of you must hurry.”

“Hurry?” Cait breathed, unsure, but nevertheless permitted herself to be led into her suite of rooms, and watched as Palaemon called for Marianna and Isabella, who promptly came at a run, and regarded Palaemon for a moment.

“He’s dead,” the schoolmaster reported, and both women looked relieved. “Isabella, take Leia to her room, and dress her for traveling, and pack her necessities. Marianna, do the same for Cait, and I’ll tell Psamathe,” he said, thinking ahead. “We need to make sure that the wards are down, so that we can all get the hell out of here!” he went on, and dashed out of the room.

Both Marianna and Isabella sprang into action, with Isabella taking Leia down the hallway to her own rooms, while Marianna set to work in getting Cait dressed into Muggle clothing, and then helped her pack and shrink her bags. “_Accio_,” she whispered, summoning all her strength, and a telltale stick came to rest in her hands. “Here,” she said.

Cait clasped her wand, her eyes momentarily filling with tears at the notion that she was finally holding it again. “Merlin,” she whispered, dragging her fingers along it. “It’s been so long, so long, so long...” Cait crossed the room toward where Verena was asleep, and gathered her in her arms. “Ready for a trip, girl?”

Cait met up with Leia and Isabella just inside the front door, and Madam Morar and Palaemon dashed inside then, looking gleeful, as Cait held onto Verena’s carrier and Leia’s hand. “The wards?” Cait managed to ask.

“They’re down,” Madam Morar reported. “Are you two ready?”

Cait nodded. “We cannot Apparate,” she said. “That was one thing that Felix didn’t teach me, of course, for he didn’t want his brood mare to leave...”

Madam Morar nodded. “_Accio_ doorknob,” she said. There was a crash from somewhere within the walls of the house, and a lone doorknob flew into Madam Morar’s hand. She tapped it with her wand and it glowed to life, and she nodded to herself, before handing it over to Cait. “Get outside the wards and say _Portus_, while the pair of you are holding it,” she said. “I’ve instructed it to take you to Sofia Station in Bulgaria. Will that suffice?”

Cait took ahold of the Portkey and stepped forward, embracing Madam Morar. “It will do more than that,” she said. She held her for another moment, before letting her go, and embracing Palaemon, then Marianna, Isabella, and Alexandre. She nodded at each and every one of the household staff, before holding up her hand in farewell, before taking Leia’s hand and running outside. “Come on, Leia! Hurry!”

Leia hurried along beside her. “Mama, where are we going?” she whispered.

Cait and Leia cleared the impressive wrought iron gates for the first time, the dragon heads looking imposingly down at her. Shaking her head, she pulled her beyond the walls of the estate, knowing that the Portkey wouldn’t work properly until they were officially off the Rosier property for good. “We’re getting out of here,” Cait told her daughter.

Leia made a face, obviously not accepting of that answer. “Yes, but _where_?” she pressed, and tugged slightly on her mother’s hand, knowing that she had to know.

Cait sighed, but didn’t speak again until they’d finally cleared the estate and all the land around it which had belonged to Felix. They made it to the cliffs upon the edge of the island, and Cait let out a cry of delight at the salt air, and at the sound of waves crashing up against them. Looking down at her daughter, she squeezed her hand and brought out the doorknob. “We’re going home, darling,” she whispered. “Hold tight, now. _Portus_,” she whispered, and the pair of them were suddenly whipped up into the air, before they vanished.

. . .

Dawn broke on the second of May as they managed to land somewhere in an alley close by the train station, and Cait was surprised to see that Marianna had packed some Muggle money into her belongings. The Levs in her pocket were not as heavy as she anticipated, and there was a cluster of yellow taxi cabs waiting for their customers outside the station. Pulling Leia along, they managed to find one, and Cait gave the address to a local pub just a few blocks away from the Krum family home, hoping beyond hope that her family still lived there.

Upon arrival, Cait gave the driver a sizeable tip, and ushered Leia out onto the street. “It’s a few blocks of a walk,” she explained.

Leia’s forehead wrinkled. “Why couldn’t we have taken the taxi there?”

Cait smiled at her daughter’s naïvety, and knew full well that they’d have to change that in the coming days, weeks, months, and years. “Well, because my family home is surrounded by wards, and, as that man is a Muggle, he wouldn’t have found it.”

“Ah,” Leia said, attempting to wrap her head around the entirety of the ordeal.

They made it to the expansive woods surrounding the Krum property a few moments later, and Cait lifted Leia into her arms, knowing that her daughter must’ve been tired from the events of the day. Cait felt a sense of calm and belonging once the pair of them got through the wards, but when they approached the front door, Leia suddenly became fearful, and burrowed into her mother’s neck, while Verena meowed impatiently from her carrier. Sighing, Cait stepped forward completely then, and knocked upon the door.

From inside, there was some momentary shouting before the door opened, and Cait’s jaw dropped then as Viktor stood there. “Viktor,” she whispered.

Viktor looked positively shellshocked. “Cait?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s me,” she said, eyes filling with tears.

Viktor, although momentarily unsure, let out a shout then and grabbed Cait, holding her against him, as both of them cried without ever having any intention of stopping. “Tatko! Máyka!” he shouted then, and yanked Cait behind him and into the house.

Vlad came running into the living room, holding his wand aloft, which he promptly dropped, his dark eyes filling with tears as he gazed at Cait. “Perla,” he whispered, his voice breaking as he walked towards her, and wrapped her in his arms.

“Tatko,” Cait whispered, her voice breaking again. “Where’s...?”

“Cait, darling?” came Lina’s soft voice, and she promptly shoved her husband aside to take a look at her younger daughter. “Oh... Oh, Merlin, darling,” she said, pressing a kiss to her forehead and holding her.

“Verena?” came Viktor’s voice then, and bent down to unlatch her carrier, and the sleek cat popped out and immediately began begging for affection from all that would give it.

“And who do we have here?” Vlad asked, regarding Leia for the first time.

“This is my daughter, Kymopoleia Liridona Rosier,” she whispered.

Viktor looked warily at his niece. “Kymo...?”

“Leia,” Leia said quietly. “Please.”

“Rosier?” Lina whispered.

“Is that who’s had you all this time?!” Vlad demanded.

Cait sighed, biting her lip, which was when Tessy decided to make herself known, and Cait smiled down at the house-elf. “Tessy!” she cried.

“Mistress Cait has returned to us!” Tessy squealed, and hugged Cait’s legs. “Has Mistress Cait brought another mistress?”

“This is my daughter, Leia,” Cait said, and slowly lowered Leia down, who looked intrigued at the sight of the house-elf.

“Mistress Leia must be tired and hungry,” Tessy declared, taking her hand. “Tessy will give Mistress Leia a grand tour, snacks, and then show her to her room,” she went on, as she pulled the seven-year-old out of the room.

“I was taken, that day at Durmstrang, by a disgraced member of the Rosier family,” Cait said softly, smiling in gratitude when she was motioned into a seat.

“On that final day of term?” Viktor asked.

Cait swallowed. “Yes. That day exactly.”

“Who was it who took you?” Vlad demanded.

“Evan Rosier,” Cait told him.

“But... He’s dead,” Lina said, turning to look at Vlad. “Vlad, darling, you told me that the British Ministry of Magic had declared him dead...”

“He faked his own death and went into hiding,” Cait said quickly, not wanting her parents to get into an argument.

Viktor’s hands went promptly into a pair of fists. “And you were a means to an end? A bargaining chip, if you will...”

Cait nodded. “Yes. I was held in rooms at The Leaky Cauldron, in Diagon Alley, for a few days, and then I was formally handed over in a betrothal agreement.”

“To whom?” Lina asked wearily.

“Felix Rosier, Evan’s cousin,” Cait said softly. “In exchange for my agreement to be taken prisoner in Felix’s estate with the intention of accepting his hand in marriage when I turned seventeen, Evan was restored into the family, with an annual income, a place to live, and a house-elf to cater to his every whim.”

“Like chattel,” Lina said, shaking her head in despair.

“I’m afraid so,” Cait whispered. “Felix did not touch me until I was seventeen, and then he enforced the agreement. We were married at the chapel on the Rosier family property, and I assumed the mantle of Lady Rosier. Leia was born from our wedding night coupling, and I told Felix, despite his desire for a son, that there would be no more children from our union. Despite him wanting to, and even attempting to break the rule on several occasions, he never touched me in that manner again...”

“How did you get away?” Viktor asked, looking up at her.

Cait swallowed. “Leia...”

“It’s all right, darling,” Lina said, taking Cait’s hand. “Tell us.”

Cait sighed then, the tremor of her breath shaking her to her very core then as her eyes filled with tears. “Leia killed him,” she whispered, and felt the tears falling down her face.

These were not tears of remorse, nor were they tears of fear. No; these were tears of joy, for, after so many years locked away, Cait was finally free.


End file.
